The Nissan NP300 Navara Series II has been announced with a new SL grade added and running changes to specifications across the range.

NISSAN HAS ANNOUNCED key changes to its NP300 Navara range with 30 variants now on offer thanks to the addition of a new SL grade.

But the changes are more than just skin deep with Nissan claiming the Navara Series II gets new suspension “components and tuning, as a result of extensive local testing of the multi-link rear suspension on these variants”. The new components include the front and rear shock absorbers, rear coil springs and rear rebound dampers. One can only imagine that the decision by Mercedes-Benz to use the Navara as the base of its new ute had something to do with the suspension tweaks…

According to Nissan, the SL grade is aimed at “tradesmen and fleet buyers” and borrows heavily from the ST grade, including: 2.3-litre twin-turbo diesel engine with 140kW and 450Nm of torque; Wide body style; Reversing camera; NissanConnect smartphone integration

The new SL variant gets vinyl flooring, 16-inch steel wheels and can be had with either a six-speed manual or seven-speed automatic.

Beyond the addition of the new SL grade Navara, Nissan said that based on feedback from both dealers and customers added sat-nav to all ST dual-cabs, taken carpet out of the RX and replaced it with vinyl, and binned the fold-out floor-level cup holder for rear seat passengers from all dual cab grades. A seven-speed automatic transmission is now available on the dual cab RX 4×4 cab chassis grade, and the sun-roof which used to be standard is now an option on ST-X dual cab grades.