Nissan's all-new Titan pickup isn't a half-ton and it's not a heavy-duty rig, either. It's a 'tweener, says Nissan's American product planning chief, Pierre Loing.
"When we began planning it (the Titan), we asked ourselves a very fundamental question: What can we offer that the monster players are not offering?"
By "monster," Loing is referring to General Motors, Ford Motor and Fiat Chrysler's Ram brand. Together they hold more than 90 per cent of a North American pickup market that comes in at about two million in sales, 300,000 of them in Canada.
"So," Loing says, "we saw a wide space between the typical half-ton and the three-quarter ton. For many, we see the half-ton as not quite enough, while a three-quarter ton is too much – 20,000-pound towing capacity. Nissan is trying to slot in between them."
This is a risky strategy. Some believe the Titan may turn out to be too much pickup for one group of buyers, and not enough for the other – with no buyers in between, despite Nissan's belief to the contrary.
However, if Nissan's plan is on the mark, the short-term sales goal is to capture 5 per cent of the market, or annual sales of about 100,000. Of course, 150,000 would be better and Loing's boss, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, said at the North American International Auto Show that 10 per cent market share is attainable.
"It's a two-million unit segment, so we cannot ignore it and we need to be competitive," said Ghosn.
Loing says that the flagship Titan XD "combines the capability of a heavy-duty hauler with the drivability and affordability of a light-duty pickup ... a powerful precision tool for hard-working, hard-playing buyers." The new Titan will go on sale late this year.
The Titan will be available with a maximum towing capacity of more than 12,000 pounds and maximum payload capacity of 2,000 pounds (when properly equipped). The pitch to buyers is that the new truck with have the fuel-efficiency and affordability of a half-ton pickup.
In Detroit, Nissan showed a version of the Titan equipped with a 5.0-litre Cummins Turbo Diesel engine. Ram offers a half-ton with a 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesel, but Nissan types argue the V-8 Cummins gives owners more flexibility for towing and hauling.
And the rest of the truck, from exterior sheetmetal to interior appointments to the chassis, has been reworked. Nissan will also offer V-8 and V-6 gasoline engines, a heavy-duty six-speed Aisin automatic transmission and even four-wheel drive.
"In North America, we are the No. 3 brand in cars, but No. 7 in trucks," said Ghosn. "We are doing many things to correct that." The Titan among them.