Nissan truck news
Recently
Straightline confirmed that the next Titan and Dodge Ram are going to be kiss'n cousins. Now we have some more info on that model, as well as some new info on the yet-to-be-seen HD Nissan pickup.
As to the Titan, the doors and roof panels will be shared by the Titan. Other exterior body panels will be unique...
Like the current Titan, it will only be offered in extended cab and crew cab versions. One good feature coming over from the Ram is the lockable in-fender storage compartments. Also, as per the Ram 1500, a new Cummins diesel is in the cards.
One piece of news I'm not happy about hearing is that it will likely get the Dodge Hemi engine. Now before everyone jumps all over me here, my feeling the equally good (and arguably better) Titan 5.6 engine would clearly set it apart from the Ram—which I think is very important. The Titan will likely also share other Ram 1500 engines. Good news, however, is the (next-generation) Nissan 5.6 engine will live on in future Amardas and Infiniti SUVs.
Now as to the heavy duty Nissan pickup, it will
not be Ram-based, but instead will be a 100% Nissan effort. It will be offered in both single-rear wheel and dual-rear wheel configurations. A concept version of this truck is expected to be shown at next year's Detroit auto show next January.
Full story here.
- Permalink | Comments (7)
- Posted by: Bob Holland May 2, 2008, 10:44 AM
- Categories: All Auto Shows, Detroit Auto Show, Dodge, Nissan, Trucks
They're using the Dodge light duty pickup and making their own heavy duty one?
Truth is stranger than fiction.
Yeah seriously...what the heck?
That's awful. The 5.6L is a fantastic engine.
So what does Nissan or Dodge gain from this?
Nissan increases profit by focusing it's resources on commercial vehicles for the unused capacity at Canton once the Titan is gone. Nissan gains profit and product focus by limiting design/engineering/manufacturing resources that would be used to continue the Titan (less than 80,000 units per year, ouch!) and instead concentrating on what it does best, cars.
Chrysler gains small cars from Nissan and capacity and profit building trucks at it's underutilized plants.
I must say, Moparbad explained it really well, and Its true, they both really benefit, especially the Titan giving jobs to more people who will work at that plant!
And wow only 80,000 ? That is pretty bad... Only thing that sucks is the 5.6 wont be used, but oh well, it continues on in the SUV's and future HD's most likely!
The only engine I care about is the Cummins. Real trucks run on diesel power.