It’s hard out there for a Titan. No, not the Tennessee Titans (they actually looked pretty good last week!). I’m talking about the Nissan Titan. As a Nissan fan (well, fan might be too strong a word, but you get my gist) this makes me a little sad on the inside. It apparently makes Nissan sad, too, which is why they’re making a big push for the Titan XD.
Titans have a measly 0.59 percent of the full-size truck market in the U.S., with only 7,175 trucks sold this year through July. During the same period, that turns into about 10 percent of Tundra sales and only 1.5 percent of GM sales. Yeesh.
That disparity is what led Nissan to develop a truck that could slot into a niche between light- and heavy-duty pickups.
"We got to the Titan XD by talking to both half-ton and three-quarter-ton customers to get input on the next Titan," said Rich Miller, chief product specialist for Titan. "The half-ton customers said they wanted a diesel engine without moving up to a three-quarter-ton truck, and three-quarter-ton customers asked for something less expensive with better ride quality, improved fuel economy and trailer-towing performance. We went to Cummins and asked if they had an engine that could do that."
Lucky for Nissan, Cummins indeed had a 5.0-Liter V-8 in the works. The engine can do 310 horses and 555 pound-feet of torque. The Titan XD will be able to tow 12,000 pounds and carry up to 2,000 pounds of cargo or payload. To get that kind of work out of a Dodge, for example, you’d need to move up to a Ram 2500.
Nissan didn’t skimp on the interior styling, either. From the optional Rockford Fosgate stereo to the tilt/telescoping steering column to the spacious interior (seriously; my first truck was a 2004 Titan and that thing was like a cave on the inside), you won’t be lacking in amenities. Other features include a bed channel tie-down system, LED cargo lighting, and a 120-volt in-bed plug.
All in all, I’d say Nissan has a pretty good chance to make a dent in the market when the Titan XD launches later this year. Get caught up on what the XD has to offer with our look at it here.