Aussie auto manufacturing set to boom! Forget Ford and Holden - Nissan eyes overseas export deal for Navara PRO-4X Warrior as Australian-made ute takes off

Nissan's international product chief is actively investigating an export deal for the Navara PRO-4X Warrior, with the Australian made (or, at least, remanufactured) ute set to go global.

In what would be a badge of honour for the Premcar team in Melbourne, and for Aussie automotive engineering ingenuity, Nissan's international executives visited Australia in April, touring the Warrior's Epping production facility before flagging their interest in the conversion program.

"As recently as last week the Global Overseas Product Director for the Navara program came to Australia, just because of how important Navara is to the market," Nissan Australia Managing Director, Adam Paterson, told CarsGuide.

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"We had him over at Premcar, he was very impressed by what we're putting together as far as the product is concerned. Obviously, it's very different when you see the car in the flesh versus online.

"He was very impressed, and thinks there are opportunities in other markets. Where that is, and what the timing is, we don't know."

One such market could be South Africa, says Nissan, where new-car buyers are as ute-obsessed as Australians, and where the Navara is produced at the brand's Rosslyn facility.

What's unclear at this point is exactly what an export program could look like. One option, of course, is to replicate the Premcar program in other markets, but Nissan says it's also yet to rule out limited-vehicle production for overseas markets from Australia.

"It's too soon to say how it looks," Mr Paterson says. "(Nissan) sees the opportunity for a conversion like that in other markets, but we don't know what it would look like or how the program would be put together. But there's definitely interest in it."

The PRO-4X Warrior - of which Nissan and Premcar have already produced in excess of 1200 units since its launch in the middle of last year - pairs the Navara's 140kW/450Nm 2.3-litre twin-turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine with a host of local upgrades undertaken at Premcar's Victorian facility.

A winch-compatible, safari-style bulbar with an integrated light bar, a red front bash plate and 3mm steel underbody protection join off-road suspension, 17-inch alloy wheels wrapped in Cooper Discoverer All Terrain tyres, an increased ride height and better approach and departure angles.