Nissan’s “Year of the Truck”

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August 16, 2016

“Nissan is undertaking an all-out assault on the light truck market in the U.S. this fall with a steady stream of new trucks, SUVs and crossovers,” said Fred Diaz, division vice president and general manager, North America Trucks and Light Commercial Vehicles, Nissan North America, as the company announced the pricing for its lineup of gasoline-powered Titan pickups, ranging from the Titan S Crew Cab 4×2 at $34,780 all the way up to the Titan XD Platinum Reserve Crew Cab 4×4 at $56,910 (all of which are powered by a 5.6-liter Endurance V8).

Nissan is still ramping up its production of the Titan models (the full-size pickup is assembled at the company’s plant in Canton, Mississippi, with the engines coming out of the plant in Decherd, Tennessee), so its sales through July have been not all that robust (7,242 units from January to July, according to Nissan; it is somewhat coincidental that the sales of the mid-size Frontier, which is rather long in the proverbial tooth, were 7,244—for the month of July, alone).

However, there’s the assault that Diaz referenced. And a solid part of that will take the form of what the company is calling “America’s Best Truck Warranty” for the full lineup (gasoline and diesel powered versions) of the 2017 Titan: 5 years/100,000 miles.

As Diaz explained, “The new bumper-to-bumper coverage shows customers that Nissan stands behind the quality of its vehicles—including the ones that are subject to the hardest use.”

Nissan offers the same coverage for its commercial vehicles, and as a consequence has seen its NV van sales increase by double digit percentages. It is hoping for the same sort of thing for the Titan.

Nissan is calling this the “Year of the Truck.”

For the Titan, it is going to eventually have a full suite of offerings: three cabs, three bed lengths, three engines, 4×4 and 4×2 drive, and an array of trims. Diaz said that this truck lineup will cover “about 85 percent of the total light pickup marketplace.”

For those who are interested in big numbers, it may be worth noting that the undisputed reigning champion in the pickup segment, the Ford F-Series, had sales of 65,657 units in July—and that was a decrease of 1 percent from July 2015.

However, for the year F-Series is up 8.8 percent, with 460,901 units delivered.

Want to know why Nissan is so interested in pickups?

Look at it this way: total Ford car sales through July are 429,708 units.

“Year of the Truck,” indeed.