Maybe. Maybe not. This appears to be the new Nissan Terra, a replacement for the Nissan Paladin. But the Nissan Paladin is what was sold as the Nissan Xterra in United States. That Nissan Paladin was in production until 2017 in China. The Terra is supposed to be its replacement.
What makes this Terra interesting is that it is a three-row, body-on-frame SUV. But Nissan already has three three-row SUVs in in its line-up: Rouge, Pathfinder, and Armada. The last of which is a body-on-frame SUV. So, would a vehicle such as the Terra/Xterra fit into its current link-up?
Image: BurlappCar.com
Yes, yes it would. Looking at the popularity of off-road-ish 4x4s, and SUVs overall, there is no reason for Nissan not to sell this here. Toyota sold over 100,000 4Runners last year. Jeep has been pushing around 200,000 Wranglers in the last few years. The development for this vehicle is basically done, and assuming that it was designed as a global vehicle, there is no reason not to sell it here.
It would not conflict with the Armada, because the Armada is much bigger, sort of like the Sequoia is to the 4Runner. The Pathfinder is basically a big car and generally servers a different buyer, like the Highlander. And the Rogue is a small, entry level model. The new Kicks, like the Juke it replaces, and the Rouge Sport are even smaller.
Finally, Nissan has a history of bringing models to the U.S. market that have been on sale elsewhere. The upcoming Kicks and the Rouge Sport are prime examples of that, and there are many more, such as the Armada. So why would Nissan stop that now?
Throw in that 3.5-liter V6 that’s in every other Nissan model. Finish it off by adding a roof rack, perhaps paint some trim black for that rugged outdoorsy look. Bam, start printing money.
Is this the new Nissan Xterra?
About
9 responses to “Is this the new Nissan Xterra?”
-
It’s not nice, but I kind of want to walk up to it and whisper: “Trim off some of that extra fat, mate”.
-
Or ask, “Why the long face?”
-
Those rear doors are huge.
-
-
Looks like it is based on the NP300 pickup. Aussie Nissan dealers would be happy to get it as they don’t have a diesel SUV to sell at the moment (not CUV).
Who knows they might even finally send/build the current pickup for North America too?-
Don’t be ridiculous. The Fronteer is fine.
-
-
If it’s going to show up in North America, my money’s on Canada over the U.S.
Nissan Canada has sold a few “rest-of-the-world” models that Nissan U.S. has not. The X-Trail and Micra are fairly recent examples.
-
The high roof was the best thing about the old Xterra.
And it doesn’t matter how many similar models that Toyota or Jeep sell. Just look at the Frontier’s numbers compared to the Tacoma. Jeeps and Toyota trucks have a cult following. Nissan does not. -
This looks more like a potential spiritual replacement for the Pathfinder– the REAL one, not the lame, bloated Altima-like Crossover to which Nissan attached the Pathfinder name in 2013. If Nissan were to introduce this three-row to the States, they would cannibalize their own lineup, but I find this “Terra” a much more desirable vehicle than the current soft-ute Pathfinder.
A true Xterra replacement should be two-row to keep the wheelbase shorter, and hopefully a bit more classically proportioned/styled. -
I didn’t realize there was an old Nissan Xterra.
To misquote one of Jeremy Clarksons funniest lines on hearing that a second generation Daihatsu Terios was going to be launched.
“So what? I’ve just been for a wee!”
Leave a Reply