Nissan Titan back on radar for Australia

Reports of the Nissan Titan’s demise may be premature according to Nissan Australia’s managing director and, if a third-generation model arrives, it could make its way into local Nissan showrooms.

Nissan’s Australian chief Adam Paterson was dismissive when he last spoke to carsales in early 2022 about the potential of the full-size, V8-powered pick-up truck rumbling into Aussie dealerships.

But during the recent local launch of the new-generation Nissan QASHQAI, his tone was more inquisitive.

The Canadian-born exec stated that although the Titan was not a priority “at this point” for Nissan Australia, the local market for full-size US pick-ups was “changing”.

If the Titan was approved for right-hand drive conversion and sale in Australia to combat rivals like the RAM 1500, Chevrolet Silverado and, soon, the Ford F-150 (all of which are built in North America and locally ‘remanufactured’), it would also be priced above $100,000 and positioned above the Navara in Nissan’s local ute range.

Given that Toyota Australia has all but confirmed it will also sell its big new Tundra here, it’s clear that big-name brands believe there’s still an untapped market to exploit, as more customers demand towing capabilities greater than the current 3500kg limit of the most popular mid-size utes in Australia, like the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.

“Pre-COVID there were very few of these 1500-class North American pick-ups on the road. And the sales numbers are saying we’re starting to see them in larger volumes,” said Paterson.

“We always look at options from overseas,” he stated.

If the Titan was imported to Australia as a left-hand drive truck that required its steering wheel shifted to the right, Nissan already has an established and qualified engineering partner in the form of Premcar.

Premcar helped Nissan Australia deliver the outrageously successful Nissan Navara Warrior and will follow it up with the Nissan Patrol Warrior later in 2023.

Warrior fans will probably already know there was a 2016 Nissan Titan Warrior project revealed in the USA and while it came to nothing, it seems a locally-developed version can’t be ruled out.

All of this would of course hinge on the second-generation Titan, which was first launched in the US in 2016 and then heavily facelifted in 2020, being renewed for a third generation. That may or may not occur, especially when you look at the low sales numbers.

While General Motors sold the most pick-ups in the US in 2022, Ford’s F-Series became America’s best-selling pick-up for 46 consecutive years and its most popular vehicle bar none for 41 years.

In the US full-size pick-up market, it was followed by Chevrolet, RAM, GMC and Toyota. While Ford sold almost 654,000 F-trucks, the Titan found just 15,064 buyers in 2022 – down 45 per cent on 2021's sales of 27,406.

Asked about reports published by respected US publication Automotive News concerning the Titan’s axing by 2024, Paterson responded: “I haven’t heard that.”

Given more than 6000 RAMs and almost 2400 Silverados were sold Down Under last year (excluding unofficial imports), it’s possible that an Aussie remanufacturing scheme could in fact keep the Titan alive.

Watch this space.