South Africa is a beast in bakkie manufacturing, with several mainstream models rolling off production lines across the country. Among the automakers making use of local talent is Nissan, which has been producing its Hardbody/NP300 at its assembly plant in Rosslyn, Pretoria, for the last few decades. However, with the Hardbody's production coming to an end in 2021, Nissan had a contingency plan to begin production of the new Navara for both the local and export markets. Covid-19 had a definite impact on the production timeline, but things managed to get underway in late-2020. Local sales of the new Nissan Navara commenced in June 2021, with Stefan Haasbroek, Marketing Director at Nissan SA, going on record and highlighting the bakkie's "enhanced ride comfort, load-carrying capacity, and a powertrain selected specifically for the South African market."