Local ute segment ‘growing, evolving’ with new customers says Nissan

Few vehicle segments have seen as much rapid change in recent times as the ute market, following the introduction of numerous new models and the arrival of several key plug-in hybrid nameplates.

The last 18 months have seen BYD, Kia, Ford, GWM, MG, LDV, Toyota, and JAC all launch new double-cab pick-ups in the New Zealand market. And out of them, BYD, Ford, and GWM have all brought plug-in hybrid variants to the party. 

And the party is only set to get more crowded, with the likes of Chery and BAIC targeting their own entries to the ute segment. 

The amount of movement means implications for some legacy brands, and one marque keeping an eye on the market and its players is Nissan. 

The Japanese carmaker hosted media at the Australasian launch of its all-new Navara. It’s a significant model for the marque as its best-selling nameplate in New Zealand. In 2025, 2501 Navaras were registered making it the fourth most popular pick-up and ninth most popular model overall. 

In fact, the brand sold more Navaras in New Zealand last year than it did all of its other passenger vehicle nameplates combined. Its 2308 passenger vehicle registrations were only enough to rank it the 11th most popular brand in the country.

Speaking on the growth of the ute market, Nissan Oceania senior manager of product planning, Ryan Stevenson, linked the increase in competitors to an increase in the quantity of ‘non-traditional’ buyers — customers buying utes as family vehicles as opposed to those strictly purchasing them for work and towing duties.

“I think [the ute market] is still evolving at the moment, but I think it’s also growing because of the way it's changing,” said Stevenson.

“I think the segment’s drawing some non-traditional buyers and it’s evolving. It’ll take us a bit more time to understand what that looks like in the future, but it seems like it’s evolving quite a lot.”

The rise in so-called non-traditional buyers has helped elevate models like the country’s most popular plug-in ute and the model that finished right behind the Navara in last year’s ute sales charts; the BYD Shark 6. 

The Shark 6 has a lower 2500kg towing capacity relative to most other competitors in its class, but it makes up for it with credible fuel economy, a cabin roomier than most rivals, and a loaded list of tech features. 

Stevenson believes that there is still strong demand for a traditional ute with healthy off-road ability. “I think there’s still a lot of space for the traditional ute — 3.5 tonne towing, full capability ute,” he said.

“It’s the core of the segment, it’s the bulk of where all the sales are. And I think we’ve got a really good package within that segment. [...] That area of the segment is relatively stable. It’s a big size, but it is getting a lot more competitive.”

Nissan may soon offer not one, but two new utes, with confirmation from the brand’s Oceania boss Andrew Humberstone that it will be making an announcement about a new hybrid pick-up in the next two weeks. That pick-up is expected to be the Frontier Pro — a Chinese-built plug-in hybrid designed to take on the BYD Shark 6 directly.