To celebrate 25 years of Nissan Hardbody in South Africa, Nissan has announced revised pricing and an extended warranty for the NP300 range. The manufacturer says special editions of the 1-ton model are also planned as part of the celebrations.
It’s hard to believe that it was 1988 when the first Nissan Hardbody badged bakkie was launched. This was followed by a new version in 1999, a facelift in 2002 and in 2007 the ‘NP300′ nameplate was added in-line with the manufacturer’s global standards.
With production taking place at Nissan’s Rosslyn plant, the Hardbody is also something of a homegrown hero, having contributed to the S.A. economy for more than two decades and being sold into international markets such as the UAE, Russia, Ukraine and Lebanon. The Hardbody has also made in roads into at least 35 Sub-Saharan African countries.
The Hardbody brand has been succesful in motorsport too, with entries in the Dakar Rallies of 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. A locally-built Hardbody took five stage wins for a French team in 2002, prompting an official factory team of three cars in the years that followed. Great names like Colin McRae, Yves Loubet, Giniel de Villiers, Hannes Grobler, Kenjiro Shinozuka and Ari Vatanen have all tackled the Dakar in a Hardbody at one point in time. On home soil, the Hardbody boasts SA Off-road Championship wins between 2001 and 2009, taking 57 victories from 72 events in the process.
Over 340 000 Hardbody examples have left the factory gates at the Rosslyn plant since January 1994 to date. Nissan estimates that over 224 000 of those are in the hands of South African owners, over 77 000 have gone to the government and at least 144 000 have been exported.
So to celebrate a quarter-century of manufacturing and sales success, the Nissan NP300 Hardbody will be available from September at a reduced price and with a new and class leading 6-year/150 000 km warranty. Nissan have not indicated if there will be a specification change to accompany the special price, nor for how long the special will run. Pricing is as follows…
| Model | Current Price (incl. VAT) |
Special Price (incl. VAT) |
| Hardbody 2.0 Base | R182 200 | R161 500 |
| Hardbody 2.5 TDi Base | R211 300 | R188 500 |
| Hardbody 2.0 MID | R204 100 | R188 900 |
| Hardbody 2.5 TDi MID | R234 000 | R205 900 |
| Hardbody 2.5 TDi Hi-Rider | R274 900 | R246 900 |
| Hardbody 2.4 MID 4×4 | R272 700 | R252 900 |
| Hardbody 2.5 TDi MID 4X4 | R292 700 | R274 900 |
| Hardbody 2.4 Hi-Rider D/C | R322 400 | R297 900 |
| Hardbody 2.5 TDi Hi-Rider D/C | R346 300 | R319 900 |
| Hardbody 2.4 Hi-Rider 4×4 D/C | R398 100 | R367 900 |
