Not too long ago, it looked as though Nissan might be questioning its decision to build the Titan full-size truck. Sales tanked during a down economy and the company attempted to hedge its bet by farming out the next-generation Titan truck to Dodge.
Then the upheaval at Chrysler forced it to cancel the agreement. Nissan suddenly had no plan for a new Titan and the current model was already old. Several industry insiders suggested it might be a good time for Nissan to bail out on full-size trucks.
Carlos Tavares, Executive Vice President and Member of the Board of Nissan Motor, recently told us in an interview at the New York auto show that the company never wavered in its commitment to full-size trucks in the U.S. "We didn't consider stopping. When the Chrysler deal fell through, we immediately started on a truck of our own. We are committed to this market. We recognize that it's an important part of this market, so we are not going to step out," Tavares said.
It'll be awhile before that truck shows up, but Tavares did mention that Nissan is already learning what today's customers want through its new NV2500 utility van. "We believe we are bringing some smart innovations to the segment and we will be learning more and more about what these kinds of customers want in terms of functionality," he said.
So Nissan is in for the long haul when it comes to full-size trucks. Should be interesting to see if Toyota thinks the same way as it looks to redesign the Tundra.
zoomzoomn says:
10:32 AM, 04/ 9/10
Glad to hear it! I hope that they replace the Armada as well. May a variant based on the new Infiniti QX56?
zoomzoomn says:
10:34 AM, 04/ 9/10
Glad to hear it! I know that early Titans had a few durability glitches, but those have been worked out and these trucks are really quite goodnow. I hope that they replace the Armada as well. May a variant based on the new Infiniti QX56?
firstwagon says:
11:53 AM, 04/ 9/10
Down economy or not, has Nissan ever sold many full size trucks?
I can't remember the last time I saw one.
rick8365 says:
05:00 PM, 04/ 9/10
I drive an 08 Pro4x and it is a heck of a truck. They have sold a lot of these Titans - they are more prevalent in some regions versus others though. And, the glitches in the beginning (just 6 years ago) as well all the competitors revising their trucks since has meant the sales have declined year to year. The current truck was Nissan's first attempt to build a full size and they did a great job - it won most of the comparos for the first couple/few years. The segment has become very competitive and full of very good trucks, we have the competition that Toyota and Nissan brought to thank (in part) for for the overall improvement of all of the trucks. Trucks today are so far beyond what they were just a decade ago.
I'm looking forward to the next Titan - I'm really glad they didn't throw in the towel after such a great start.
blueguydotcom says:
09:54 PM, 04/ 9/10
A friend let me borrow one for work around my house. I had it for a month. Dug it. Really nice truck, imho. Decent mileage, great power, quiet (quieter than our cars on the road), and it felt well built. I liked it quite a bit. Almost bought one myself.
1487 says:
05:20 AM, 04/12/10
they need to reconsider making this truck. No one buys it and it lowers their CAFE score. Its pointless.