Nissan Reportedly Plans Beefed-Up Pickup (F250 range)

The Indy Channel ^ | June 22, 2006 | AP

[Abathar]

TOKYO -- A newspaper reported Thursday that Nissan plans to develop a new heavy-duty version of its Titan pickup truck by the end of the decade to cash in on the lucrative U.S. market.

Currently, the Titan is only sold in the United States.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the beefed-up version of Nissan's Titan would be aimed at contractors and trailer haulers. It would compete with vehicles such as Ford's F-250 pickup.

A Nissan spokeswoman declined comment.

The move would be a challenge to the domain of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, which have leaned on highly popular pickup trucks to offset slumping sales of passenger cars. The vehicle is reportedly scheduled to come out in late 2009.

Nissan would likely stop making Nissan Quest minivans at the company's assembly plant in Canton, Miss., to make room for the new Titan, the report said.

The Houston Chronicle reported that Nissan produced 99,775 units of the current Titan in 2005. Both the Titan and the Quest are made at the Mississippi plant, The Chronicle reported.

[Abathar]

It will be interesting to see if the heavy truck market will be as easy to get into by Nissan, If ever there was brand loyalty left here in the US it is in this market.

[JamesP81]

I don't know about their trucks, but I'm quite impressed with the V6 Altima. When I buy a car (within the next year, hopefully) I've narrowed it down to two possibilities, and the Altima is one of them.

[Still Thinking]

But they're God-awful ugly, worse than the worst of the current US nameplate crop. Yes, I said "crop".

[coconutt2000]

Is the new Ford Mustang the other one?

[Still Thinking]

Is the new Ford Mustang the other one?

I really like the new ponies, and the new Chargers are pretty cool too.

[GrandEagle]

If ever there was brand loyalty
True, BUT Ford at least, has no loyality to it's customers who have been very loyal to Ford. zip - nada - none - zero.

[L98Fiero]

"But they're God-awful ugly, worse than the worst of the current US nameplate crop."

No way. We have one as a company truck and it is tough looking. Much better than those goofy looking new GMC front-ends.

[OpusatFR]

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nissan North America Inc. said Thursday that it was recalling 97,000 Altima and Sentra vehicles after reports of excessive oil consumption and engine fires led the automaker to stop selling the vehicles.

Nissan said some 2006 sedans with 2.5 liter engines could quickly consume oil, potentially damaging the engine and leading to engine fires."
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060622/NEWS99/306220003

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[sgtbono2002]

Whenit comes to towing that Ford 250 with the Power Stroke Diesel is going to be hard to beat.

I cant understand why anyone would ant a Nissan full sized Pickup as they dont get any better fuel mileage than Ford or Chevy.

[Hildy]

I MUST disagree with you. The Nissan trucks are great looking and their cars...sturdy and strong. I was a Nissan customer for years. Starting with a Sentra, Frontier, then an SX240 then an Altima and then the Maxima which was the best car I've ever had. For some ridiculous reason, I decided to get a Jeep Liberty (CHRYSLER) Midsize SUV instead of the Nissan XTERRA which is a great Mid-Size SUV. Everytime I see the XTERRA on the road, I kick myself.

[MeanWestTexan]

My company has recently purchased 25+ titans (exact number escapes me). Stripped down models -- rubber floors & vinyl seats but FWD and skid plates, et al (for oilfield work)

So far so good. The younger workers prefer them.

[martin_fierro]

But they're God-awful ugly

True dat.

They actually make the Toyota Tundra look good by comparison.

[JamesP81]

Is the new Ford Mustang the other one?

No. I'm not particularly a Ford fan, and the Mustang, while it's swift, doesn't handle as well as I'd like. The other choice is a Toyota Celica GTS. It doesn't have as much raw horsepower as I'd like, but it stays glued to the road and does generate some pretty serious acceleration at higher RPMs. It's also reliable. And hey, let's face it, I can't afford a Corvette or a 350Z.

[Yo-Yo]

You want ugly? The Honda Ridgeline is UGGGGGGGG-LEEEEEEE!

(Apologies to any FReeper Ridgeline owners.)

[Abathar]

I agree with you, my company truck has 1/4 million miles on the powerstroke now, its been a great engine.

[JamesP81]

Nissan said some 2006 sedans with 2.5 liter engines could quickly consume oil, potentially damaging the engine and leading to engine fires."

The 2.5 Liter is their 4-banger, which has never been anything but average (aside from it's horsepower, which is good for a 4-banger). That's why I mentioned the V6, which seems to be built quite a bit better.

[Still Thinking]

Actually, it was the nasty GeeMers that I was thinking of when I referred to the worst of the worst US-badged trucks, but I still give it the edge over the Nissan.

Just got a look inside the latest generation of F-150's yesterday. Yuk! Exterior styling, while IMO inferior to the 92-96 era, was a significant climb out of the 97-03 jellybean abyss. But what the heck were they thinking with that interior??

[Spktyr]

Nissan is rumoredly in discussions with Caterpillar for a diesel - which would trump the PowerJoke. Failing that, they do have their own strong diesel line.

[Spktyr]

Uh - 350Zs are $27K.

[L98Fiero]

Have you looked at the Acura RSX Type S? When I was car shopping, that one really struck me as a sharp and nimble car.