Last year, Nissan sold 79,646 Frontiers to customers in the United States, confirming that the midsize truck’s sales have been solid for a while, especially considering it was last redesigned in 2004. However, fans of the “little truck that could” will be happy to know that a new Frontier is on its way—and it sounds like it’s going to be pretty special.
Speaking to The Drive at a Titan event in Jackson Hole; Fred DePerez, Vice President of Nissan North America LCV Business Group, said that development of the new Frontier is “well underway.” He also said, “You won’t be disappointed with it.”
While it’s no surprise that Nissan is working on a new version of the Frontier, this is the first confirmation that development is well underway, and even though he wouldn’t confirm an exact timeline it does give us hope that a new truck is coming sooner than later.
“Frontier is a key component of our truck strategy,” DePerez added.
A new Frontier is seen as a tool to help get buyers into the Nissan family—so that they’d be more likely to upgrade to a Titan. Having a good full-size pickup truck product is also key to the strategy, and the current Titan offers best-in-class standard horsepower and the best bumper-to-bumper warranty at 5 years or 100,000 miles.
The last leg of Nissan’s truck strategy is building relationships with consumers, which is the reason for a Titan Adventure event in Wyoming that involves actual truck owners. Reaching out to Titan enthusiasts, understanding their love and passion, and helping to further foster that growth is key in a time when marketing is changing.
“Last year, 2 million people test drove pickup trucks,” DePerez said. “Google told us that YouTube videos of people test driving cars topped 13,000,000 views. The way people buy cars and learn about them has changed dramatically.”
DePerez is optimistic about Nissan’s strategy, emphasizing that it’s a longer-term plan. Truck sales growth isn’t an overnight thing. But it’s exciting to know that a refreshed Frontier is essential to that growth, and that Nissan is expecting to be even more competitive in the fast-growing, hot midsize truck segment.