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New Euro 6 standard means name change for popular pick-up as Nissan respond to public pressure

David Spear Director, David Spear Commercials with Geraint Yeo General Manager.

Local commercial vehicle supplier David Spear has been an industry sounding board following the introduction of the new Euro 6 standard this September, and with news that a popular pick-up model has received a name change, the timing is far from coincidental.

Established manufacturer Nissan has dropped the prefix from its 12th generation Navara, meaning that from now on the model will be known as simply the Nissan Navara, rather than its previously used title, NP300 Navara.

“The NP prefix stood for Nissan pick-up and was added to bring the recently introduced model in line with other vehicles within the Nissan range – the manufacturer already uses the abbreviations NV, for Nissan van, and NT, for Nissan truck. This naming policy however has been met by a negative response from customers and dealers alike,” said Owner David Spear.

The name change comes just 11 months after the model was launched, however the abbreviation has been removed due to increasing pressure from dealers and customers who feel that the Navara brand is too strong to dilute.

It has been an excellent year for this particular model with UK sales of the pick-up increasing by 73% from January to September 2016 alone. So far 7,200 Navaras have been sold this year, which is 3,000 more than the same period last year. The 12th generation model includes a number of new features to ensure Euro 6 compliance such as SCR technology.

“The reaction from the public and industry insiders was obviously one not expected by Nissan as the original plan was to remove the model name completely and simply refer to it as NP300. The Navara is a bestseller in many commercial vehicle ranges across the country, including our own, but the prefix led to confusion with those that already had brand loyalty with the Navara name. Many will be pleased to see the prefix removed, and the pick-up will be known as Navara in Europe alone, with countries like Japan retaining the NP300 moniker,” concluded David.

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