Take the kitchen sink with you if you like: you won’t faze the Nissan Navara. The huge load bay easily swallowed all our test kit, although there’s no 12V socket back there.
It’s a big machine, and feels like it from behind the wheel. The 2.5-litre diesel unit does its best but, hitched up, it takes a tedious 21.4 seconds to go from 30-60mph.
Compared with the Mitsubishi L200, the other pick-up in this year’s awards, the Navara made a better fist of the lane-change manoeuvre, doggedly holding the intended line.
It might look like a builder’s workhorse, but the Nissan is well equipped. Aventura trim includes climate control, cruise control, sat-nav and a CD-changer.