As Nissan concurrently works to affect its product portfolio and work out tips on how to re-spark its truck technique, the Japanese automaker could possibly be exploring a product to do each: a small, light-weight electrical pickup for the U.S.
Nissan is learning a brand new mannequin that might slot beneath its Frontier midsize pickup, in line with an individual aware of the matter.
This yr, Nissan stated that every one of its “new car choices” in key markets will likely be electrified by the early 2030s.
Small pickups are immediately an trade white area. The nascent compact pickup section up to now consists of the upcoming Ford Maverick and just-launched Hyundai Santa Cruz, however it’s forecast to develop to about 99,000 items in 2023, in line with IHS Markit knowledge.
A compact pickup would reposition Nissan in a section that customers count on the model to play in, given its historic success with the Frontier, stated Tyson Jominy, vice chairman for knowledge and analytics at J.D. Energy.
“It is a good pivot for Nissan to supply a pickup in a section the place rivals aren’t there en masse but,” Jominy stated.
Judy Wheeler, Nissan division vice chairman of gross sales and regional operations within the U.S, downplayed the hypothesis of an electrical compact pickup however didn’t rule the concept out.
“There’s every kind of issues beneath dialogue,” Wheeler informed Automotive Information. “I do not know that there’s any severe dialogue there at this level.”
Even so, Wheeler foreshadowed prospects for electrified Nissan pickups.
“I might see that coming,” Wheeler stated of an electrical powertrain. “The pickup space is type of attention-grabbing. There will likely be a shopper that is wanting extra for a way of life car that they’ll put all their gear in and go off-roading.”
Wheeler famous Nissan has been a pioneer within the electrical car area, launching the Leaf hatchback greater than a decade in the past. “We now have this nice base that we created with our shoppers, our actually robust vendor community that not solely can promote [EVs], but in addition have a service community,” she stated.
A small pickup can be a pure extension for Nissan, which launched the small truck section to Individuals within the Sixties beneath the Datsun model title.
“Nissan has an extended historical past of making segments entire material and being the primary entrant,” Jominy stated, citing the Leaf and Xterra off-roader. He stated a smaller electrical pickup can be a “good play” for the model.
Nissan is close to the tail finish of a product revival that leans closely on nostalgia, updating icons such because the Z sports activities automotive, Frontier and Pathfinder crossover.
Bringing a small pickup to North America matches properly with that heritage-focused technique, stated Greg Carrasco, vice chairman of operations at Oakville Nissan in suburban Toronto.
“Nissan as soon as was a unusual, attention-grabbing Japanese automotive producer that had loyalty due to what number of possibilities they took when it got here to design, when it got here to efficiency,” Carrasco stated.
However alongside the way in which, Nissan forgot who it was, Carrasco stated. “That momentary amnesia is type of curing itself.”
A brand new pickup might additionally assist Nissan jump-start its stalled momentum in that high-volume, high-margin area.
Nissan’s Titan is lifeless final in its class, eking out a 1.5 p.c share of the 1,161,563 full-size pickups bought this yr by June. “It is vitally laborious, I believe, for a Japanese firm to essentially do extraordinarily effectively in opposition to the domestics,” Wheeler acknowledged.
Crossovers, sedans and midsize pickups are the “coronary heart and the longer term for us,” she stated. “If we will do Titan, we’ll proceed to do Titan. However we’re not going to do loopy stuff.”
Nissan is extra optimistic about its prospects within the midsize pickup section. The model is hopeful its third-generation Frontier, which arrives in early September, will elevate it from fifth place amongst midsize pickups. Final yr, the Frontier’s U.S. gross sales tallied 36,845.
However Carrasco sees a possibility for Nissan to stake a declare within the fledging compact pickup section.
“There are lots of people that personal small properties that do not want full-size pickup vans and are on the lookout for fuel-efficient and costs-effective pickups,” he stated. “Early adopters are going to be taking a look at this area, and if there’s any market available, now’s the time.”
On the similar time, the transition to battery-powered automobiles throughout product segments is simply starting, IHS principal automotive analyst Stephanie Brinley stated.
These new EVs will conquest from combustion engine car homeowners, Brinley stated.
“Getting into the compact pickup section with an EV might show good for Nissan, however that does not essentially imply it would improve the model’s general quantity, ” she stated.