Nissan was the pioneer of the compact pickup truck market in 1959, joined in the 1960s by
Toyota. Since 1959, Nissan is known for a number of notable firsts in the compact pickup
truck market, including the first extended cab bodystyle (in the 1979 Nissan King Cab) and
the first crew cab bodystyle compact pickup, in the D22 Navara.

There have been three generations of Navaras since 1986. The first was the D21, considered
to be a small pick up. After more than 10 years with the D21, the second generation of

Navaras were manufactured from 1998 and went until 2005 which was classed as a compact sized pick up. It was replaced with the bigger, taller, longer D40, which Nissan now considers to be a mid-size pick up truck.