Dealers think Nissan could and should cash in on the rugged SUV boom.
Nissan is in the midst of a complete portfolio rejuvenation that started off last June with the new Rogue and continued with subsequent launches like the Ariya electric SUV, Z Proto, Magnite small crossover, and the Frontier pickup refresh for South America. In addition, a revamped Note small hatchback was launched in November at home in Japan, while the Kicks and Armada were also updated before the end of 2020.
The US-market 2022 Frontier and Pathfinder are scheduled to debut on February 4 and will be followed later this year by the next-gen Rogue Sport / Qashqai. Nissan dealers – at least those in North America – have asked HQ for a product they believe the company’s portfolio is lacking, the Xterra. The truck-based SUV was offered in the United States between the 1999 and 2015 model years across two generations (WD22 and N50).
Gallery: 2021 Nissan X-Terra
It’s worth mentioning the nameplate was revived in November 2020 as the “X-Terra” for the Middle East with a Navara-related truck platform and three rows of seats. Pictured here, the model in question is essentially a facelifted variant of the Terra introduced back in mid-2018 in China, effectively meaning the spiritual successor of the old Xterra has actually been around for roughly three years.
Is the US getting the X-Terra? Nissan says it has had talks within the company about the model’s potential return to North America, but has told dealers “nothing’s been decided.” Dealers estimate the rugged vehicle could generate close to 80,000 sales each year thanks to a strong demand fueled by the truck-based SUV boom.
They argue Nissan should get a piece of the action rather than just stay on the sidelines and watch the Ford Bronco, Land Rover Defender, and Jeep Wrangler grab all the sales. Tyler Slade, an operating partner at Tim Dahle Nissan Southtowne in Salt Lake City, told Automotive News the profit margin is nothing to sneeze at, adding a Wrangler has double the profit margin of a Rogue.
That being said, high-ranked Nissan officials at home in Japan ruled out the possibility of introducing the Terra / X-Terra in the US when the Chinese version was unveiled in 2018: “Currently, that is out of our scope. The U.S. market is one of the toughest, not just because of crash tests but also because of customer expectations.” It’s unclear whether the situation has changed since then, but a final decision is still pending.
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Automotive News
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