Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[With Or Without You: Nissan reportedly commits to new Titan even if Dodge goes down]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/10/with-or-without-you-nissan-reportedly-commits-to-new-titan-even/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/10/with-or-without-you-nissan-reportedly-commits-to-new-titan-even/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/10/with-or-without-you-nissan-reportedly-commits-to-new-titan-even/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



It's comparatively old in the marketplace, its sales are down, and the Nissan Titan is/was slated to be replaced by a Dodge Ram-based replacement in 2011. Chrysler is distracted at the moment, trying to work out its government-mandated deal with Fiat, and Nissan is making contingency plans for the Titan in case its pickup hookup goes belly-up. PickupTrucks.com caught up with Larry Dominique, Nissan's vice-president of product and advanced planning, at the New York Auto Show, who indicated that Nissan intends to continue offering a full size pickup truck even without a rebadged Ram.

Rather than give up, Nissan is prepared to extend Titan production at Nissan's Canton, Mississippi facility. Plans for the Ram-based next-generation are nearly complete, so Nissan would have to swing into action quickly to stay in the game, and Nissan says it can go it alone and design and build a new Titan if it has to. The most likely plan, should the planned Chrysler-based Titan fail to materialize, would be a revised and refreshed version of the current Titan to bridge the gap and attempt to bump sales.

The Titan's sharp sales decline reflects a pickup market that's brutally competitive, and the Titan, while pleasant and capable, has never managed to attain either the volume or the critical acclaim of most of its competitors. Nissan has adjusted production to meet demand, but reportedly say they could ramp up quickly if they can find a way to whip up sales excitement.

[Source:PickupTrucks.com]

With Or Without You: Nissan reportedly commits to new Titan even if Dodge goes down originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 10 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>nissan titannissan titan chryslernissan titan dodgenissan titan next generationnissan titan productionNissanTitanNissanTitanChryslerNissanTitanDodgeNissanTitanNextGenerationNissanTitanProductionFri, 10 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[New info on Nissan's Ram-based Titan pickup]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/05/02/new-infod-on-nissans-ram-based-titan-pickup/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/05/02/new-infod-on-nissans-ram-based-titan-pickup/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/05/02/new-infod-on-nissans-ram-based-titan-pickup/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



More details have emerged about the next-generation Dodge Ram-based Nissan Titan pickup. Questions about how similar the two trucks will be have been partially answered, as Pickuptruck.com reports that the Titan and Ram will share only their doors and roof panels. The next-gen Titan will feature an exterior and interior designed solely by Nissan, which should put to rest concerns about a rebadged Dodge Ram. The two trucks will, however, share platforms, the Ram's new coil-sprung rear suspension, the cool RamBox storage compartment (despite hearing previously that the Titan wouldn't get this feature), and engines. In fact, in addition to a 3.7L V6 and 4.7L V8 sourced from Chrysler and a Cummins light-duty diesel V8, Nissan may offer Chrysler's 5.7L HEMI V8 rather than its own 5.6L 'Endurance' V8. Apparently the HEMI costs several hundred dollars less to build than the Endurance engine. Pickuptruck.com reports that the 5.6L V8 would still live on in the Nissan Armada and Infiniti QX56 producing 400 and 450 horsepower, respectively.

Nissan is also reportedly going to produce a three-quarter-ton and one-ton Heavy Duty Titan, though these trucks will share no components with Chrysler products and be built alongside two other yet-to-be-announced light commercial vehicles at Nissan's plant in Canton, Mississippi.

[Source: Pickuptruck.com]

New info on Nissan's Ram-based Titan pickup originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 02 May 2008 13:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We just got off the phone with Frédérique Le Grèves, Nissan's VP of Corporate Communications, and had a chance to ask her some more questions about the Japanese automaker's recently announced partnership with Chrysler LLC. The partnership involves Chrysler building a full-size truck for Nissan at its Saltillo, Mexico plant and Nissan building a small car for Chrysler at its Oppama plant in Japan. While Le Grèves wasn't able to offer many specific details because the car won't arrive until 2010 and the truck a year later in 2011, she did shed some light on a few things.

For one, when asked about what engines the next-gen Titan (we're not sure if Nissan will rename the truck) would use, Le Grèves remarked that partnering with Chrysler would allow Nissan to offer more options to its customers. Thus, the Titan may be powered by not only the company's venerable VK56 V8, but also a selection of engines from Chrysler. She indicated that the partnership would at least give Nissan the opportunity to expand the features, options and configurations it currently offers in the Titan. We also asked how unique the next-gen Titan's design would be compared to the Ram, and were assured it would be 100% recognizable as a Nissan. Based on that, we're expecting more differentiation that we got with Volkswagen's version of Chrysler's minivans, the Routan.

As for the small car, since most of the decisions involving its development will be made by Chrysler, there wasn't too much news from Nissan on it. Since all official commentary on the small car has not specified whether it will be front-wheel-drive or not, we asked if there were at least the possibility that it could be rear-wheel-drive. Being that the Oppama plant currently builds a number of front-wheel-drive vehicles like the Cube, March, Tiida/Versa and Note, one would expect Chrysler's small car to fall in line and be front-wheel-drive as well, but no one's been able to confirm this small point yet.

It appears that we all have to wait for each automaker to get further along on their development of these vehicles before we get any more solid details than this.

Thanks to Mike Levine from Pickuptruck.com for setting up the interview!

Nissan talks more about next-gen Titan and small car for Chrysler originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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