With the all-new Jeep Wrangler making waves and Toyota the fact that buyers still want the Toyota 4Runner, Nissan may soon rethink its decision to abandon the body-on-frame rugged SUV segment. Michael Bunce, Nissan North America’s vice president of product planning recently told Wards Auto that the automaker is thinking about reviving the Xterra name for a new body-on-frame SUV.
Nissan is currently looking at the idea, which would expand its SUV lineup and give buyers an alternative to the long list of crossovers in its stable. The upcoming arrival of a new Frontier pickup, could also lead to the return of a new Xterra. The Xterra was killed off in 2015 as buyers flocked to the softer (aka more boring) crossovers in Nissan’s lineup.
There’s no word yet when Nissan could make a decision about a new Xterra and there’s even the chance that Nissan could decide to go with a different name, although that would seem a bit weird, considering the Xterra name was used for two generations.
The new Frontier is expected to debut sometime in 2018, before it arrives in 2019. Keep your fingers crossed that a new Xterra won’t be too far behind.
Source: Wards Auto
