DRIVING IMPRESSION
Navara strains under expectation burden
Mark Smyth tested the new Nissan Navara to see if it is the new king of bakkies
There was a time when the big fight in the bakkie market was in countries such as SA, where we had the Ford Ranger, Isuzu KB, Nissan NP300 and the perennial favourite, the Toyota Hilux. There are others, too. Over the years some have come and gone and a few have stayed, even though in some cases we have no idea why. The US also has a large bakkie market but their bakkies are bigger. What has not been a big bakkie market is Europe. Until now. The recent rise in bakkie sales in Europe has driven a flood of new models in the global market. Mercedes will say its X-Class is aimed strategically at SA and other emerging markets, but it also wants to see them being driven across Europe. Everyone else is driving a Ford Ranger, the top-selling bakkie in Europe, but manufacturers are taking note of the increase in popularity globally and SA is benefiting. It means we will not only get the new X-Class, but we also have the Fiat Fullback, Mitsubishi Triton, Renault Alaskan and this, the Nissan N...
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