Nissan recently confirmed that it would be suspending the development of the heavy-duty version of its Titan pickup truck, putting the rumour of the one-ton Titan to rest.
Though heavy duty pickup trucks are amongst the highest profit generating vehicle types, Nissan has crunched the numbers and decided that it’s simply not worth its while to enter the segment.
The brand cites a number of reasons, the biggest of which is development cost. For the Titan HD to successfully compete with Ford, Dodge and GM, Nissan would need to develop at least three body styles and various trim levels, both of which are costly. Even if it did, this would not guarantee success in a segment completely dominated by domestic brands. Research has shown that only one in three heavy-duty truck buyers would be interested in purchasing a truck from a foreign brand, even though the Titan would be built and sold solely in America.
Despite this announcement, Nissan has continued to develop the regular half-ton Titan, giving it a facelift for 2008, which was introduced this past February in Chicago. In addition to a revised exterior and more power, an eight-foot long box and long wheelbase version were added, which should please work-oriented consumers. Further developments include the possibility of a single cab body and a V6 gasoline engine for fleet use, but bigger news still is the possibility of a turbodiesel engine.
Larry Dominique, Nissan’s VP of product planning and strategy, said that the brand would like to build a turbodiesel engine if the economics were in its favour. Nissan notes that besides the fuel economy gains, customers would benefit from a stronger towing capacity and better resale value, though it must take into account the crippling Tier 2 Bin 5 and future emissions regulations, not to mention the high cost of particulate filters. At this time, only Dodge has committed to having a turbodiesel light-range pickup truck for its Ram, and it won’t be arriving until 2009.
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