It’s safe to say that vans take a long time before they get a full model change. Take the Nissan Urvan, for instance. Called the Caravan in its home market, it first rolled out in Japan in 2012 and has remained largely unchanged since then.
Okay, there was a facelift for the 2022 model year, but it still took a good part of a decade before we saw any major exterior alterations. The current Nissan Urvan soldiers on in its 12th year still looking mostly like it did way back over a decade ago.
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Despite its age, Nissan has continuously given it updates to keep it competitive in the van segment. The Urvan for the 2025 model year is no different, although it’s mostly for the domestic market.
For starters, the Intelligent Around View Monitor, something we first saw in the Terra for Nissan’s commercial vehicle range, is standard across the range. It’s a feature that should come in handy given the Urvan’s dimensions.
Given that the Urvan is commonly used for courier, transport, and utility services in Japan, Nissan tweaked its Intelligent Rearview Mirror. Available in most model grades, the rear-view camera always stays on and its feed is projected at the corner of the rear-view mirror. That way, the driver always has two perspectives from the back.
Okay, the changes are (very) minor, but the cameras would be a welcome addition to the local version. Besides, the Philippine-spec Urvan is sourced from Japan, so adding those features aren’t too far from reality. What else is new, you ask? Well, there’s the addition of two colors, namely Deep Forest (green) and Deep Ocean Blue.
Mechanically, Nissan Urvan/Caravan remains unchanged although the engine for Japan is something we’d like to see here soon. It’s essentially a detuned version of the same engine found in the entry and mid-spec versions of the Mitsubishi Triton. That would be the 2.4-liter 4N16 turbodiesel, albeit the one here makes 130hp and 370Nm of torque. It still has around the same power as the 2.5-liter we have here, but it makes significantly more torque in this case.
Other things of interest? A gas-powered version is also available in Japan, and so is all-wheel drive for most variants. As for the all-new model, we’re not expecting one anytime soon. Besides, this is from the same company that sold a single generation of Urvan for 29 years.
