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Nissan's first new Navara ute in more than a decade appears to share most of its bodywork with the Mitsubishi Triton.
The 2026 Nissan Navara looks set to have more in common with the Mitsubishi Triton than hoped when it makes its global debut next month, ahead of an Australian showroom arrival in the first half of next year.
Teaser imagery and video of the first new Navara in more than 11 years have been released today ahead of its full debut on November 19, 2025.
It is no secret that the 2026 Navara is closely related to the new Triton, as part of a joint-development project led by Mitsubishi, and set to be built in the triple diamond brand's factory.
However, the previews suggest that differences between the Nissan and Mitsubishi on the outside will be modest, and limited to bumpers or light signatures, rather than metal panels.
The Navara appears to share the Triton's cabin structure, bonnet, doors, windows and rear wheel arches, with the Mitsubishi's distinctive crease over its front and rear wheels carrying over.
Adding brightness to a front-end teaser image suggests the Nissan will wear a unique daytime-running light signature – with a single LED bar, rather than three line segments – but the lower headlight clusters are the same shape and size.
The C-shaped tail-light signatures of the vehicle shown, a high-spec Pro-4X, are also new, though they are reminiscent of a high-spec Volkswagen Amarok. The sports bar appears to be Nissan-specific, however.
Even the sole element of the Navara's interior shown in the video – the engine start button – appears to be shared with the Triton.
It points to a closer relationship between the two utes than rival partnerships, such as the Isuzu D-Max and Mazda BT-50, which wear unique front and rear styling, including different headlights, bonnets, wheel arches and doors.
The roof, doors and glass are the only shared body panels between the Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok, alongside bespoke interiors for each vehicle.
Nissan dealers were shown the Navara's final design in a closed-door conference earlier this year, from which it was suggested there will be sufficient differentiation between the Nissan and Mitsubishi versions.
It remains to be seen how much of the Triton's mechanical make-up will be available to the Navara, including Mitsubishi's trademark Super Select 4WD system, which allows the ute to drive in four-wheel-drive mode on sealed surfaces.
Expect the Triton's 150kW/470Nm 2.4-litre twin-turbo diesel engine to feature in the Navara, as well as its suspension layout, including rear leaf springs to replace the maligned coil springs in today's Nissan.
Nissan has promised its ute will be more than just a rebadged Mitsubishi.
"We are making sure that it's very much a Nissan. So we'll be making a number of changes to make sure that that's the case," Nissan Oceania managing director Andrew Humberstone told Drive earlier this year.
"I think if we look at our technology portfolio, there's a lot that they can benefit from. So in terms of technological advancement, in terms of the utility space, absolutely I think we've got something we'd like to bring into the market."
There may be a staggered roll-out of the vehicle in showrooms.
"We traditionally had a range of 12 variants," Humberstone told Drive in recent months, "then we looked at it, ‘hang on, do we start with four? Do we start with three?'
"Potentially we start with a smaller number of variants and build on that.
"But obviously we're looking at the entire segment because I think you're seeing a divide in that segment between the traditional hardcore ute driver and the one that likes a double-cab.
"And what that means, maybe we need to look at different options. So again, we're being very creative on how we manage that."
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
