With crossovers and SUVs dominating the global auto market right now, it makes sense for companies to resurrect discontinued SUVs, and Nissan's Xterra, which ended production in 2015, might just be on its way back.
Nissan North America's vice president of product planning, Michael Bunce, recently said to Wards Auto that the company was looking into theoff-road utility market again. TheXterra was, he said, "a great asset in terms of a name and a badge. It's on the shelf right now, but it's something we could utilize in the future."
The Xterra was launched in 1999 and stayed in production in the US until 2015, when it was discontinued due to various reasons: its poor fuel economy, falling sales, and the need for expensive essential upgrades to make it comply with increasingly stringent safety and emissions regulations.
Technically, the Xterra is still in production in China, but the model sold there by Zhengzhou Nissan Automobile is based on the old Xterra platform and is in fact badged as the Nissan Paladin.
It's expected that Nissan will reveal an all-new version of its enduring, but dated, Frontier pickup truck sometime in 2018, and a new Xterra could share the same platform. It appears the Japanese auto giant has been watching Ford's introduction of smaller displacement, more fuel-efficient engines into its own trucks and SUVs, and is looking to go down a similar route.
As far back as six years ago, Bunce's predecessor, Larry Dominique expressed interest in what Ford was doing with V-6s in the F-150. At the time, Dominique told Wards Auto, "Who would have thought three years ago V-6 turbos would be 35% of Ford F-150 (sales)? Having somebody like Ford leading the way…I think is great. It opens up the door to us to look at alternatives, as well."
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