Nissan has previewed a new off-road SUV – part of a range of new body-on-frame vehicles including a new ute – as it looks to revive its fortunes in its largest market.
According to Automotive News, the automaker plans to build five new models in the US to combat import tariffs and better leverage its local supply chain as it faces its toughest position in North America in 25 years.
Per the report, Nissan outlined its ambitious growth plans for the US dealer network at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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The new body-on-frame platform will be used for a revived Xterra SUV – a name last used in 2015 but never offered in Australia – with the rugged off-roader due in 2028 and featuring an ‘electrified’ powertrain as Nissan looks to claw back lost ground in hybrids.
Luxury brand Infiniti – axed locally in 2020 – will reportedly also get a variant of the new Xterra.
The same platform is also set to underpin a more rugged, muscular sixth-generation Pathfinder, which will use a ladder-frame chassis for the first time since 2012, positioning it as a bona fide Toyota LandCruiser Prado rival.
The Pathfinder used the same body-on-frame chassis as the Navara and Frontier pickups for two of its three generations between 1985 and 2012, so this new generation expected in 2027 will mark a return to its roots.
The Infiniti QX60, a posher cousin to the Pathfinder, will also reportedly migrate to this new platform.
It’s unclear if any of these vehicles are intended for export to Australia. Nissan Australia currently sources one vehicle from the US, the Pathfinder.
Beyond the launch of this new family of body-on-frame SUVs and utes, Nissan also plans to address its absence of hybrids in the North American market.
Nissan missed the surge in hybrid popularity in the US over the past 18 months and, despite offering the battery-electric Ariya – which launched in Australia last year – hasn’t offered its e-Power hybrid technology in North America.
That’s set to change in 2026, with the Rogue – the US-market equivalent of the X-Trail – due to be offered with the e-Power drivetrain, which debuted in Australia in 2022 and is now also available in the Qashqai small SUV.
Nissan’s global headwinds have slowed product development, leaving the brand with older models than many rivals and increasing its reliance on partners within the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance.
In the interim, Nissan has confirmed plans to offer a Rogue plug-in hybrid (PHEV) based on the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV to bolster its US showroom lineup, much as the new-generation Navara – sold in markets such as Australia – has been twinned with the latest Mitsubishi Triton.
The new models will be critical to the Nissan brand’s goal of achieving one million US sales in 2027 – a milestone it last reached in 2019 and fell well short of last year, when it recorded 873,307 deliveries.
In Australia, Nissan is set to have the Y63 Patrol in showrooms by the end of this year, powered by a twin-turbo petrol V6 in place of the current model’s V8, where it will remain the flagship of the brand’s off-road lineup. It’s already on sale in North America under the Armada name.