Nissan Retools the Titan Top to Bottom

Feb 12, 2015

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Nissan Motor Corp. is making an ambitious move to bolster its place among the competition by retooling the Titan truck from top to bottom. A choice between three engines, one of them a V8 Cummins diesel, three bed lengths and two frame sizes are meant to give the Titan a wider appeal to audiences from suburbanites to construction workers. In the last model year, Nissan sold fewer than 13,000 Titan models. Facing even tougher competition from the revamped and improved offerings by the Big 3 (FCA, GM and Ford), Nissan is joining the fray by offering a more comprehensive and competitive line-up. In late 2004, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn had big plans for the truck, but it didn’t quite work out, with Nissan capturing less than 1% of the American full-sized truck market in 2014. The new truck for MY2016 is the first major redesign of the Titan, meant to capture market shares – and truck-loving hearts – for Nissan.

Two Available Sizes for the Nissan Titan

The new Titan truck will span two segments – heavy-duty and light duty, because it is Nissan’s belief that up to 150,000 American truck buyers could go either way when they are deciding between truck sizes. Titan’s chief marketing manager Phil O’Connor says, “Every year a set of customers has to make a compromise. They buy a truck with more capability than they need. Now they no longer have to make that compromise.” Some versions of the Titan XD diesel models will weigh in at over 8,500 lbs gross, which puts the Titan XD in direct competition with the F-250 by Ford, the Silverado 2500 HD and the Ram 2500 trucks currently on the market.

The new Titan will be offered in two sizes – the Titan and the Titan XD. The Crew Cab model of the XD, first to reach the market, will come with a 5.0L V8 Cummins diesel that makes 310 horsepower for a big 555 ft-lbs of torque, which will distribute that big power by way of an automatic Aisin 6-speed transmission. This big truck will carry over 2,000 pounds, and haul more than 12,000. When introducing the 2016 Titan, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said, “150,000 owners … are struggling to find the right truck. We weren’t just going for best-in-class. Instead, we are offering the best new class.”

Titan Seeks to Fill the ‘White Space’

Nissan thinks that there is a “white space” that wasn’t there in 2003, and they are ready to take up that space with the new Titan. While the Detroit 3 are busy offering more and more torque (for more and more money), Nissan is taking another direction – one meant to fill what they believe is an under-served consumer segment. Phil O’Connor says, “If we had this new Titan in 2015, it would represent a half a point of additional market share for us. There has been a torque race going on among the Detroit brands for the past decade, and we’re not going there. We think there are a lot of consumers who want a full-sized pickup that can tow and haul, but who don’t need quite that much power, and who don’t want to pay for it.” To further help fill that white space, and gain that extra share of the market, Nissan is adding more features that consumers want and need to their trucks. Some of those features include two-way tailgate assist, LED cargo area lighting, puddle lamps that turn on when the driver nears the truck, full-length running boards, and rear and front sonar for traffic assist and maneuvering.

To learn more about the new Nissan Titan trucks, and be the first to get one when they hit the market, check in with us at Conyers Nissan. We know our customers are looking forward to this new truck.

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