1991 Nissan EXA Reviews

Overnight Nissan announced its radical Re:Nissan “recovery plan” that hopes to see the company return to profitability by fiscal year 2026, and as part of this it confirmed a range of new models for both the Nissan and Infiniti brands.One of the proposed new models in this plan is a new Skyline.It will be one of the first vehicles for Nissan to be built under a revamped development process that’ll see it reduce engineering costs, complexity and improve development speed.The Skyline nameplate is historic to Nissan and dates all the way back to 1957 when it was called the Prince Skyline.The Nissan Skyline was even produced in Australia in seventh-generation guise from 1986 to 1990.Although Nissan has confirmed a new Skyline is in the works, don’t get your hopes too far up, because this likely isn’t the new R36 GT-R.Japanese outlet, Best Car, known for its industry sources, believes the Skyline will instead be an SUV and will sit above the brand’s current Ariya electric car, and will be a similar size to seven-seat SUVs such as the Toyota Kluger.The rebooted Skyline could borrow tech from the recently announced Ariya Nismo.That car uses two electric motors to make 320kW and 600Nm and provides all-wheel drive grip.Best car's digital render gives a glimpse of what it could look like.The Nissan Skyline currently exists as a four-door sedan, most recently picking up a sportier limited-production Nismo version in Japan.This 13th-generation Nissan Skyline was even sold in Australia as the Infiniti Q50 from 2014 to 2019.Nissan teased the R36 GT-R in 2023 with the radical Hyper Force concept. It was an all-electric supercar with 1000kW of power and a solid-state battery pack.Given Nissan has now paused all new car development beyond 2026, it remains unclear whether the R36 GT-R will actually happen.Previous reports speculated the R36 GT-R would launch in 2028.

Nissan's global CEO Ivan Espinosa has pulled no punches in imposing sweeping cost-cutting measures to get the ailing Japanese carmaker's bottom line back on track.

There was restrained celebration across the Australian car world this week after a report by The Australian claimed the controversial Luxury Car Tax (LCT) will be scrapped under the new Albanese government as it targets a free trade agreement with the European Union.

What is the best car to drive for a ride hailing service like Uber, Ola and Didi? Well, we thought we’d give you our two cents. Not only are we car experts and have driven thousands of new vehicles but we also spend a surprising amount of time sitting in the back of ride share cars talking to drivers. 

Nissan made an impact at the Shanghai motor show with the surprise reveal of the new HiLux-sized plug-in hybrid Frontier Pro ute.

The recent Shanghai and New York motor shows demonstrated the increasing gulf between the surging Chinese car industry and the rest of the world.

If Nissan really wants to grab Australia’s hotly contested dual-cab ute market by the scruff of the neck, it needs to something big. Something bold. But also something inevitable.

In 2025 branding means way more than a hot iron mark scorched into a steer’s backside.It’s about a brand’s personality, reputation and your interactions with it. What it says about you. What it delivers. How it makes you feel. A visual identity, a design style… and a million other things.   And there are automotive brands in the Australian new-car market that have strategically built solid brand equity over many decades.Current market leader, Toyota began dipping its corporate toe into global export waters by shipping cars here in the late 1950s. And other Japanese makers like Honda, Mazda and Nissan followed it in conquering initial hesitancy by steadily investing in strong retail networks, pushing product improvement and focusing on a positive customer experience.Ford has built its global brand around everything from the Model T and its revolutionary assembly line to pumped up muscle cars and victory at Le Mans. While here it embedded itself in the local landscape via a manufacturing presence spanning close to a century and regular victory at Mount Panorama.And more recently, relative newcomers like Hyundai and Kia have moved rapidly from cheap and (mostly) cheerful to innovators that repositioned the concept of value and quality in the local market.All of which led to large pockets of ‘rusted on’ brand loyalty. The concept of ‘Ford and Holden families’ started to diminish from the moment the latter departed the scene in 2020 (if not before), but Toyota’s reputation for value, durability and affordable ownership has seen it maintain a legion of never-say-die fans.Same for Ford, Mazda, Mitsubishi and others. But I'd argue a turning point was when, after an initial false start through a private importer in 2013, MG set up as a direct subsidiary in 2017.Great Wall had landed as the first Chinese car brand in the Aussie market in 2009, but MG 2.0 was different. Even if its ‘Since 1924’ positioning stretched credulity, its products were better than expected and pricing was ultra sharp.Sharp enough to encourage budget-focused new-car buyers, even used-car prospects, to give the brand a go.With the introduction of new-generation products in the early 2020s sales took off like a rocket, and it’s here that my ‘That’s a good idea’ theory kicks in.I reckon executives at rival Chinese car brands, keeping an eye on MG’s increasing success Down Under, all had the same ‘good idea’ at the same time. Namely, let’s get into Australia and grab a piece of that action. Hence the subsequent arrival of Chery in 2023, itself a factory-backed restart after an initial import-distribution arrangement broke down back in 2011. Followed by the flood gates opening, with BYD, Deepal, Geely, a ramped up GWM, JAC, LDV, Leapmotor, Smart, Jaecoo, XPeng and Zeekr all jumping in with Aion, Avatar, Jetour, Lynk & Co, Skyworth and others waiting in the wings.Doesn’t matter which category you’re talking about - white goods, sporting equipment, hi-fi - if one fresh competitor enters a mature market, it’s likely to be met with reluctance, even contempt by existing brand loyalists.But if near enough to 20 newcomers blaze into market at the same time, clearly something seismic is going on and it feels like you’d be missing a trick if you didn’t at least investigate the rapidly changing competitive landscape.Give them the benefit of 20/20 hindsight as well as a time machine and it’s not certain all the new brands above would currently be making an Aussie entrance.But multiple triggers have been pulled with retail network deals done, head office staff recruited, parts warehousing set up, service and sales training completed and marketing campaigns launched. So, in a mature market, early movers like MG, Chery and GWM have the advantage and more recent arrivals will need to find a way to win over buyers… fast. And it’s a fair bet the ever-impactful lever marked price will be pulled on a regular basis.Some of the newcomers as well as more than a few existing legacy brands will be forced into a price war. Like it or not, loyalty comes under pressure when the incentive is enticing enough and with a cut-price cage fight likely to take place sooner rather than later not everyone will leave the octagon alive.Stand by for new-car buyers tempted en masse into ‘unbeatable deals’ that mean brand loyalties will be stretched beyond breaking point. The shake out from this looming war of attrition will be huge. 

As Nissan confirms a next-gen ute to launch within the next 12 months and the brand’s North American executives discuss streamlining its global ute and pick-up range, Nissan has revealed a plug-in hybrid ute at Auto Shanghai 2025.The 2025 Nissan Frontier Pro ute is the first electrified 'pick-up' from the brand, with the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) ute seemingly based on the Yuanye Z9, built by Nissan’s joint venture partner in China, Dongfeng.The Frontier name comes from the American badge for Nissan’s mid-size ute, once the same as, and now a sibling to, the Nissan Navara.Importantly, Nissan says the Frontier Pro will be exported to other markets after its Chinese launch later this year, though which markets remains unconfirmed.The Frontier Pro boasts a 300kW/800Nm powertrain sending drive to all four wheels from its 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine and transmission-mounted electric motor. Nissan says the Chinese market estimation for its EV-only range is 135km under New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) testing, which can be less accurate and more lenient than widely used WLTP test figures.Five-link rear suspension, an electromechanical rear differential lock, four drive modes ranging across 'Hybrid', 'Pure Electric', 'Performance' and 'Snow' plus chunky 265/65R18 tyres wrapped around serious-looking 18-inch alloys all suggest the Frontier Pro plug-in should have at least some capacity for off-roading.Further to the mechanicals, the PHEV ute wears a face inspired by the design of the D21 generation ‘Hardbody’ Navara, namely via three of its LED headlights spanning the top of the fascia, reminiscent of the bonnet intakes in the D21.Inside, the Frontier Pro isn’t harking back to the 1980s. A 10.0-inch driver display and a large 14.6-inch multimedia touchscreen are joined by a two-spoke steering wheel, though as one would hope for in a work ute there are still physical controls for at least the climate control.Similarly important is the Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) port for powering or charging appliances via a household-style plug.The reveal of the Frontier Pro comes just after Chief Planning Officer for Nissan Americas Ponz Pandikuthira told US outlet MotorTrend the best plan going forward would be to streamline Nissan’s global ute and pick-up offerings: “Ideally we’d like to have a global convergence solution.”Interestingly, Pandikuthira said a plug-in hybrid would make the most sense for a single, global Nissan ute model to achieve solutions in most use cases. Pandikuthira also added that sooner rather than later is the plan: “We need to have a solution by . Three years from now.”Nissan had in March this year already confirmed “an all-new one-ton pickup” would launch in Japan’s 2026 financial year, which means anytime between April 2026 and March 2027.The model discussed in that plan is set to take advantage of Nissan’s links with Mitsubishi, potentially building a Nissan-badged Navara on the new Triton’s platform.As previously reported by CarsGuide, Nissan’s Chairperson of the AMEIO Region Guillaume Cartier told Australian media a new Navara would be on Australian soil in 2026.But don’t expect an electrified ute just yet - he clarified diesel is still the main dish for now."We need to make sure that if we electrify, how we electrify. I think it will be a two-step approach, first with a PHEV solution, then later on with EV," he said."That's what we're looking at, but first it will be with a diesel approach.”"On the first one we are with Mitsubishi, but the next one we are looking at. Because there is also technology we have in-house, which is solid-state battery, but that will take time.”It’s possible the “next one” Cartier referred to is the Frontier Pro plug-in just revealed in Shanghai, but time will tell.

A Nissan Americas executive has hinted at the future of the brand’s ute and pick-up family becoming much more streamlined.