Nissan's Prado smasher on the way

Nissan’s joint venture in China, which is responsible for the much-anticipated upcoming Shark 6-rivalling Frontier Pro PHEV ute, has announced it will produce two new models.

The joint venture has announced the 'S20' PHEV SUV and a new-generation version of the brand’s NV200 van as a plug-in people mover as part of its product plan for 2026.

The products were both shown shrouded and no further details were announced. The SUV is likely to be a tough vehicle, perhaps even an SUV version of the Frontier Pro, which could be the touted revival of the Xterra nameplate.

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The brand said it had begun “all-terrain validation testing” for an SUV, which will ride on the joint-venture’s new Star Core platform, according to Chinese media.

The new platform is said to be capable of supporting combustion, hybrid, and pure electric forms with a maximum system power of 320kW/800Nm.

The hybrid-ready off-road set-up is more similar to GWM’s Hi4-T system used in the Tank 500 and Cannon Alpha. It maintains a physical transmission and transfer case with hardware links to both axels, in contrast to the more range-extender-style set-up used by the BYD Shark 6 and its Denza B5 sibling, which drives the axles primarily by electric motors and with a hardware link only to the front axle from a high-voltage generator attached to the engine.

This should make both the Frontier Pro and the upcoming SUV model more familiar to drive off-road, with other benefits for payload and towing.

The JV is targeting impressive approach and departure angles of 36 degrees and 37 degrees respectively, with a maximum wading depth of 900mm.

No doubt Nissan is hoping the ladder frame ute and SUV pair will help it cash in on the boxy off-road trend currently taking the Chinese market by storm.

Off the back of the success of its Chinese-market models (including the N7 sedan, which is developed by a different joint-venture), Nissan announced it will double down on the Chinese market and its research and development capabilities and said “China Speed” will make up a core part of its international efforts to reverse its ailing fortunes.

Nissan’s well-publicised financial woes have seen it close some of its longest-running and historically important factories as customer demand shifts and the brand is embattled by rivals, particularly from China, in many markets across the world.

Nissan Australia has even earmarked the possibility of bringing the Frontier Pro to our market, not to replace, but to live alongside the next-generation Mitsubishi Triton-based Navara, which will be revealed imminently.

This could give the brand a two-pronged dual-cab solution, to challenge both its traditional diesel rivals as well as the BYD Shark 6, which has had unprecedented success bringing plug-in hybrids to mainstream consciousness in the segment.

Meanwhile the NV200, which has never been sold in Australia, and is currently sold in several forms across the world has been due for an update for some time. This new joint-venture version could be the reboot Nissan needs to make the van more globally competitive, although nothing else has been revealed about it for the time being.

Stay tuned for more Nissan news imminently, as the brand locks in its Australian plans for 2026.