________________
PickupTruck.com
(here
), via Newsweek
(here
), is now reporting that Carlos Ghosn is hinting at possibly dropping the Nissan Titan because of slowing sales!"Ghosn stresses Nissan's recent success with small cars, and hints he may kill the slow-selling Titan pickup (though Nissan officials say there are no such plans yet)...
"The name of the game is going to be more fuel-efficient cars," he says. "And when you make your product plans for the future, you can't say, 'I've always had a pickup truck, so I'll just keep improving it.' If you can't make it profitably, you have to get out.""
Clearly something is going on here, but just what is far from being clear. Assume for a minute that the Titan is killed, or is replaced by a re-badged Nissan (Dodge) Ram, what happens to the Nissan Armada and Infiniti Q56, as these vehicle share most of the Titan's mechanicals?
And then there's the Nissan/Navistar hookup: Remember that there were reports of the next Titan might get a Navistar-sourced diesel option. If any of this news is correct, what happens to Navistar, as surely any future Ram-sourced Titan will likely use a Cummins diesel?
Stay tuned as there will be more on this, for sure.
Here's AutoObserver's take: Chrysler-Nissan Discuss Small Car, Big Truck Sharing
Clearly something is going on here, but just what is far from being clear. Assume for a minute that the Titan is killed, or is replaced by a re-badged Nissan (Dodge) Ram, what happens to the Nissan Armada and Infiniti Q56, as these vehicle share most of the Titan's mechanicals?
And then there's the Nissan/Navistar hookup: Remember that there were reports of the next Titan might get a Navistar-sourced diesel option. If any of this news is correct, what happens to Navistar, as surely any future Ram-sourced Titan will likely use a Cummins diesel?
Stay tuned as there will be more on this, for sure.
Here's AutoObserver's take: Chrysler-Nissan Discuss Small Car, Big Truck Sharing
estreka says:
05:52 AM, 12/17/07
Boy that's strange. I hope Nissan doesn't discontinue the Titan, as I was planning to buy an HD model when they finally began producing them.
The Armada/Q56 would have to sell pretty well since they'll suddenly have a lot of relevant costs. Anybody have sales figures for those models?
thatchman1 says:
11:44 AM, 12/17/07
Given that the Armada will appear at this year's NYIAS it's probably not dying (maybe changing?), and considering Nissan's past discussions of utilizing American manufacturing facilities instead of building them-- maybe Nissan will be licensing the Titan technology to Dodge or the reverse. Or starting a relationship that may lead to more co-opetition-- creating line ups that don't overlap much, and building on sourcing & supply synergies.
In a way, their successful lineups have uniquely un-overlapping features-- Dodge/Chrysler has a very successful van and truck name while Nissan's have trailed. Nissan has a very successful small vehicle lineup and Z car while the 300 is the only Chrysler vehicle that has sold successfully in recent years.
Nissan has been talking about an American partner. Maybe this is the beta test.
Interestingly, Nissan will be rebadging the Frontier as a Suzuki...
http://www.nissannews.com/corporate/news/current/20071211090833.shtml
November and YTD Nissan Sales in US:
http://www.nissannews.com/corporate/news/current/20071203114649.shtml
ateixeira says:
12:42 PM, 12/17/07
I guess it didn't help that Mike from "Desperate Housewives" drove a Titan on that popular show.
desmolicious says:
03:18 PM, 12/17/07
You only watched that show cuz yer wife made you, right?...
stovt001 says:
09:18 PM, 12/17/07
Yes, please kill off that eyesore called the Armada, but let the Titan stay. The bulge attached to a box that is the Armada is right up there with the Quest's saggy butt as some of the worst examples of automotive styling. However, just because the truck market is slacking off a bit doesn't mean they should kill off a totally competent truck. Produce less? Sure. Invest a little less money in it? Sure. Looking in to fuel economy improvements to rival the Silverado hybrid? By all means. I'm all for focusing more on smaller cars, but killing off the Titan completely seems a bit drastic.
bbechtel16 says:
07:13 AM, 12/18/07
I love the Armada bulge!
66fastback says:
10:50 AM, 01/ 7/08
Actually, this joint work could work well for both companies. Nissan has had some issues in recent years, and Chrysler has a bunch of them right now. Chrysler's biggest problem at the moment with their aweful product portfolio is that they don't have a company like Mitsubishi to co-produce with today like they did prior to the mid 90's.
Nissan could benefit from some of Chrysler's powerplants in their truck line, and Chrysler could definitely benefit from some co-produced vehicles in their passenger car line, not only in engine and driveline, but also in overall design. Chrysler will probably benefit more, but right now they need it if they want to survive another five years.