Nissan Titan making moves to be bigger, bolder, badder
When it comes to pulling one's weight in the full-sized truck category, Nissan, like Toyota, admits that it made some mistakes with its Titan the first time around, but has learned a lot. Both automakers seem not to have realized that the truck buyer is an entirely different animal than the car buyer. Having failed to reach its sales targets since the truck was launched, Nissan is now planning to give the Titan a complete overhaul. Injecting more "full" into its full-sized contender, the 2008 Titans will be bigger, more powerful, more rigid, have heavier axles and better payload capacity, and bigger brakes.
Nissan is also expanding the model mix, having learned how varied American truck buyers like their option choices to be. One addition will be a decontented V6 model for buyers who just want a no frills work truck. On the other end, the company is considering purchasing diesel V8s from International Truck and Engine Corp (that's right, Navistar). And along with the changes, Nissan is expending the effort to raise the truck's profile; most folks still think it's a mid-sized truck. Nissan is only looking for the Titan to grab 5% of the market, and it isn't too far off now. With the changes, they're in with a shout.
[Source: Auto News - sub. req'd]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
James 9:29AM (5/29/2007)
I wonder if it will be a completely new engine or some derivative of the new 6.4L ford engine.
In any case, I would be glad to see it when it happens- maybe 2009 model?
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Travis Rassat 9:41AM (5/29/2007)
It seems that Nissan has pretty realistic goals and have really learned a lot from their first try, as well as Toyota's latest attempt. This should be interesting.
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mj 9:41AM (5/29/2007)
I see Toyota and Nissan invading the full-sized American truck market and think of Napoleon and Hitler invading Russia.
I think the people who give them a chance are clueless, and Toyota could lose their environmental reputation creating all these huge gas guzzlers to be competitive.
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Big Mike Wood 10:02AM (5/29/2007)
In other words Nissan is just now learning what people have been saying for a decade. Good job Nissan.
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Steven T. 10:45AM (5/29/2007)
Great, Nissan is trying out "out big" Detroit right at the moment when rising gas prices might very well shift buyer interest to more fuel-efficient trucks.
Sounds pretty visionary to me.
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The Other Bob 11:15AM (5/29/2007)
Anyone else notice that Nissan has the same fleet mileage average of GM? Soon they may be worse, as GM is getting better and the imports are getting worse.
Notice how GM gets all the flak for being so poor on the environment.
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Barney 7:59PM (5/29/2007)
"Notice how GM gets all the flak for being so poor on the environment."
It's quite blatant, isn't it?
Bryan 11:37AM (5/29/2007)
Some mistakes? Try horrible, cheap interior, awful ride, horrific looks, the list goes on. They think making it bigger is going to help? Uhm, no!
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Jeff 11:55AM (5/29/2007)
Notice how every post about an import brand has someone saying "if GM did xxx, you'd all be yyy"?
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dustin 12:17PM (5/29/2007)
When talking about work trucks you can't expect to get good gas mileage when you are hauling 1 ton or towing 3 tons. I think people are forgetting that. Work trucks are not meant to be fuel efficient, it is nearly impossible. They are meant to tow and haul large amounts of weight. The point is that Nissan is attempting to have a better truck "image" in the market and to do this they believe that it needs to be "bigger, bolder, badder". So that is what they are doing.
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WickedRides 12:26PM (5/29/2007)
I'm a fan of the Titan, so it'll be exciting to see the new improvements!!
http://titantalk.com
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Guenther 12:45PM (5/29/2007)
The Titan mainly needs help in the Nuts and Guts dept. Mainly a better transmission and a proper rear axle. Everything else is on par. It already stops shorter, tows just as much, and gets the same lousy fuel economy as anything else in the segment. Size-wise, inch for inch, its every bit as big as the F150.
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dan 12:49PM (5/29/2007)
I'm a fan of the Titan exactly because it's not bigger, bolder, and badder. While Ford and Toyota have gone towards HD trucks in 1/2 ton guise, the Titan is the smallest and lightest - and most nimble and fun to drive - fullsize on the market.
Nissan should save the bigger and stiffer for the longbeds, all the short bed trims they have now need is a better interior and new sheetmetal.
Stupid hippies who whine about gas guzzling in every post will never drive a truck so why do you even read truck topics? Go away.
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Don 4:34PM (5/29/2007)
Sweet! Now Titan owners can enjoy the flaming tailpipe option!
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Squid 9:41PM (5/29/2007)
I have over 99,320 miles on my 04 Titan work truck with just one visit to the service Department the first week of ownership for a couple of TSB's and a seatbelt recall. This is one tough truck and I'm now in the process of upgrading the suspension for some serious offroading fun (This truck is a keeper) You can find out more details about mine and others Titans from real owners who will be more than happy to answer any and all questions at http://www.titantruckz.com/
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Guenther 8:02AM (5/30/2007)
Squid- be sure to put some proper vent lines on the axle. Friend of mine had his get plugged with a little mud and popped the axle seals. Wound up with a replacement axle under warranty, so at least Nissan took care of it.
roadside observer 1:59PM (5/30/2007)
I'd like to know which Navistar V8 the writer is talking about. Ford has exclusive rights to the 6.4L V8, save the 6.4s Navistar puts in its own trucks. I don't believe that the old 6.0L is still in production.
Navistar DOES have a 4.5L turbodiesel V6 that it can sell to Nissan, though.
BTW, 5% of the full-size truck market is approximately 100,000 trucks - which was Nissan's original annual sales goal for the Titan ... and after nearly four years, Nissan has yet to sell 100,000 Titans in a year - and sales have been sliding.
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