A new report out of Australia suggests that Nissan is ?studying? the opportunity to create a high-performance version of its Navara bakkie to take the fight to the recently revealed Ford Ranger Raptor. And it could even use a certain German brand?s V6 turbodiesel?
Speaking to motoring.com.au, Ashwani Gupta, who heads up the Renault-Nissan Alliance?s light commercial vehicle unit, said that he would like to study the idea of creating a rival for the 157 kW/500 N.m Ranger Raptor.
?If you would had asked me this question [about a Raptor rival] yesterday, I would have said this is not on our priority list,? Gupta told the Australian publication.
?But if you are asking this question today, then I am saying this is an opportunity we would like to study.?
Gupta told motoring.com.au that he felt the Navara (which currently uses a 2,3-litre, four-cylinder oil-burner) would be able to handle more power.
?If we need to upgrade tough and smart Navara to the sports grade, we can do it very easily,? he said. ?But the most important thing is which powertrain we adopt. That is the study which we need to do.?
The Mercedes-Benz X-Class, of course, will soon be available with a 3,0-litre V6 turbodiesel, worth 190 kW and 550 N.m. And since the Navara and X-Class are built on the same assembly line, there appears to be at least a slim chance that the Japanese bakkie could pilfer its German cousin?s six-cylinder heart.
?We have every technology to do that … if it makes sense for the customer and the business, we will do it,? said Gupta. ?We have not yet checked it, but for sure from today we will study ? what kind of specification we need.?
