Nissan’s answer to the BYD Shark 6 will be confirmed for Australia next month

Nissan Australia revealed the news to its dealers last November, but Nissan Oceania managing director Andrew Humberstone has now confirmed the all-new Frontier Pro plug-in hybrid dual-cab ute will be officially announced for the Australian and New Zealand markets next month.

Speaking to media at this week’s launch of the new Mitsubishi Triton-based Navara ute, Mr Humberstone said Nissan Australia will announce a new ute “in two weeks”.

When asked whether he was referring to a hybrid ute, Mr Humberstone said: “Yeah, it will be”.

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Revealed at the Shanghai motor show in April 2025 and not due to arrive Down Under 2027, the Nissan Frontier Pro will be sold alongside the new Navara as a direct competitor for the popular BYD Shark 6, as well as the Ford Ranger PHEV and GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV.

It will be one of many new plug-in hybrid dual-cabs to arrive here in the next year or so, including the JAC Hunter and both diesel and petrol-powered PHEV versions of the Chery ute hitherto known as the KP31.

A product of the Japanese automaker’s joint venture with China’s Dongfeng, the Frontier Pro is based on Dongfeng’s Z9 ute rather than the outgoing D40 Navara-derived Frontier pickup sold in the US.

It combines a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with a transmission-mounted electric motor, developing combined outputs of 320kW of power and 800Nm of torque.

A 33kWh battery pack offers an electric-only driving range of 135km according to China’s more lenient CLTC standard, along with fuel consumption of 6.9L/100km.

Just as importantly, braked towing capacity is 3500kg – matching the Navara, as well as the Ranger PHEV and Cannon Alpha PHEV – while wading depth is 700mm and off-road capability comes courtesy of a proper four-wheel drive system with an electro-mechanically locking rear differential.

Nissan’s first electrified ute and its first PHEV model globally will also offer vehicle-to-load (V2L) capability, supplying 6kW of power for electrical appliances via outlets in the tub.

The Frontier Pro offers selectable hybrid, electric, performance and snow drive modes, five-link rear suspension, and comes standard with four-wheel drive and 18-inch alloy wheels wearing 265/65 R18 tyres.

Inside, there’s a 10-inch digital instrument cluster, a 14.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system, and the option of heated, ventilated and massaging front seats, plus a panoramic sunroof.

It’s likely the all-new ute will be offered sold in this region with Frontier Pro – rather than Navara – badging.

Mr Humberstone, who departs his Nissan Oceania role at the end of the month to return to the brand’s European division, did not elaborate further on the model.

But he previously said the Frontier Pro would be an “absolute fit” in Nissan’s local range, where the low-emissions pickup would not only give the Japanese brand a two-pronged ute lineup, but also offset some of the CO2 emissions of the diesel-powered Navara amid the federal government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES)

“I see no problem with that running in parallel to new Navara,” he told CarExpert in May.

“It’s about ‘does the business case work?’ I think it takes about six months to get right-hand drive. I think it could potentially work for the market.

“What we’ve been told officially – this is a joint venture with Dongfeng, obviously – the car is available for export, we are one of the markets which could be considered. I think it could be a very interesting product for us to look at. I think it could absolutely fit.”

So far the only full-electric ute to join the pioneering LDV eT60 on sale in Australia is the KGM Musso EV, with no sign yet of the Toyota HiLux BEV, LDV eTerron 9 or Isuzu D-Max EV.

The Frontier Pro isn’t the only Dongfeng-based model on the table for Nissan Australia.

In the same way that Mazda is leveraging its Chinese partner to deliver the electric 6e liftback and CX-6e SUV to Australia, Nissan could eventually offer a range of Dongfeng models here.

Mr Humberstone confirmed the Chinese-market Nissan N7 and Dongfeng S7 electric sedan as a possibility, which would return Nissan Australia to the sedan market, and other potential models include a range of electrified Dongfeng SUVs – perhaps even one based on the Frontier Pro.

“These are all on the drawing board to be discussed, and some of them we already have a tick on,” he revealed.

The news comes at what is already a very busy time for Nissan, which is in the midst of launching its pricier new Navara with a truncated range of premium dual-cab variants, and will soon release an updated Qashqai small SUV lineup without pure petrol engines and instead only e-Power hybrid variants.

A more affordable two-wheel drive X-Trail e-Power variant is set to hit the market soon, and the next-generation V6-powered Y63 Patrol will arrive in Australia in late 2026, or perhaps sooner.

On the flipside, as we reported last night, Nissan Australia has dropped the Juke and Pathfinder, and shelved plans to launch the all-new Leaf, with Mr Humberstone citing turbulent electric vehicle market conditions.

Nissan Australia will be hoping for more sales from its volume-selling X-Trail, Qashqai, Patrol and Navara models in 2026, following a 21.6 per cent overall sales slump in 2025 due to the unpopularity of model including the Pathfinder, Juke, Ariya electric SUV and Z coupe.

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