The Final Titan?

by Michael Satterfield - 06/27/2022

The Nissan Titan was launched in 2003, joining the Big Three and the then-new Toyota Tundra in the coveted US full-size truck market. Nissan watched the lessons that Ford, Dodge, and GM gave to Toyota's first attempt, the T100, and applied those lessons to their own full-size truck. Nissan had done well with trucks in the US market, their compact Datsun 220 pickup was shown at the 1958 Los Angeles Auto Show, a pickup was one of the vehicles that helped establish Datsun in the American market. 

Nissan would continue to thrive in the US with small trucks, the 520, 620, 720, and eventually, the infamous Hardbody that would eventually be replaced by the Frontier, one of my favorite compact trucks you can buy today and the winner of our 2022 Truck of the Year. Small Nissan trucks have had a cult following for years, so a larger version should do well too. 

The Titan launched with all the right equipment, decent reviews, and a very attractive price point, but despite all of that, the Titan has never been the volume sales leader it needed to be. To put it in perspective, in 2004, the first full year of sales, Titan sold 83,848 vehicles. That same year, Ford sold 939,511 F150s, Chevrolet sold 684,302 Silverados, and Dodge (Ram) sold 449,371. For Nissan, the dream was to carve out a chunk of that full-size market, like Toyota had done, in 2003 the Tundra did over 100,000 units. But those early years were the peak of sales, and I don't really know why. 

I have had the chance to drive every full-size pick-up truck over the last few years and this week I am driving the Nissan Titan Pro-4X, as equipped it comes in at $61,615 which is shockingly nearly $10,000 less than the similarly equipped Silverado 1500 ZR2, $6,000 less than a Ram Rebel, and Ford's V6 Tremor F150 is $7,000 more. So the Titan is offering a lot of bang for the buck, but being the best value I fear isn't going to be enough to keep the Titan in production. According to Automotive News, since it has never become the 100,000-plus unit truck Nissan needed it to be, they have no plans to keep the Titan in production past 2025, so this Titan is likely going to be the last one.

Now I wouldn't let that scare you off from considering the Titan, if I was in the market for a full-size truck it would be high on my list, it is exceedingly comfortable, and while it might not have a 14-inch touch screen, the interior is well made and very user friendly. I used the Titan to do all kinds of normal truck stuff, picked up garden supplies at Home Depot, hauled an antique table for our garden, and went back to Home Depot to pick up more garden supplies because it's not a project unless you go twice. 

In my opinion, what is hurting the Nissan Titan is what is hurting Nissan in general, Nissan just isn't fun anymore. Gone are the unique and quirky vehicles that made Nissan stand out. The new Z is a step in the right direction, but Nissan has given up a lot of ground since they were the company that brought us the Pulsar, Figaro, and Cube. With the Titan, Nissan aimed squarely in the middle and didn't rock the boat, while they built a great truck, it didn't offer any reason for buyers to switch to Nissan. So people didn't. Backed up by years of bland marketing that literally highlighted the legacy of the competition, and it's no surprise the Titan is facing the chopping block.  

All of that said, you are in the market for a truck, you should consider the Titan, it is going to be a great truck and likely you will be able to get an incredible deal on one.