Nissan Navara N-Guard special edition announced

The tough-looking Nissan Navara N-Guard is a new special edition of the popular pickup. It's on sale now, costing from £28,075 excluding VAT. It features design upgrades to help it stand out against rivals like the Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok, along with more kit.

Using the range-topping Tekna trim as its starting point, N-Guard sees the front grille, foglight surrounds, door mirrors, door handles and back bumper all painted black. The theme is accentuated by the side steps, roof rails and unique 18-inch alloy wheels. Even the headlamps have been tinted so as not to unbalance the stealth look, and there's a standard sunroof with privacy glass. Headlight washers also become standard.

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Only three colours will be available: Twilight Grey, Metallic Black and Storm White, with unique decals stretching along the bottom of the doors and onto the load bed for a more distinctive look. The trim is exclusive to the Double Cab version with a 2.3-litre dCi 190 diesel engine.

Nissan has also given the N-Guard new interior upholstery, with dark grey and yellow cloth seats along with yellow stitching. This is carried over on the doors and floor mats that tie in with the exterior decals. The only optional extras are an automatic gearbox (increasing the price to £29,525 before VAT) and a rear differential lock to improve the Navara's off-road ability.

Standard kit already includes key Navara features, including systems to help the rugged pickup set off on hills and descend steep slopes, brake automatically in an emergency and navigate car parks thanks to 360-degree cameras.

The Nissan N-Guard will make its debut this month at the Hannover Motor Show – the event where the Nissan EnGuard concept that inspired its name was first seen in 2016.