Nissan is edging closer to revealing the third-generation Xterra, aiming to take on the burgeoning off-road SUV market with another iteration of the 4×4.
Previewed at an annual business update this week, the new Nissan Xterra’s design has been teased for the first time, with the big pickup-based SUV’s boxy exterior alluding to its off-road ambitions.
We haven’t seen much yet, though from a brief video we can see the Xterra will get stamped ‘NISSAN’ lettering above its grille, marker lights under the bonnet and angular, boxy surfaces not too dissimilar from the Frontier pickup.
Nissan has billed the Xterra as “a Heartbeat model for the US, offering an adventurous spirit, body-on-frame strength and purpose-driven design,” with the ‘Heartbeat’ referring to “models embodying Nissan’s identity, emotional value, and innovation” – similar to the also teased new Nissan Skyline.
No technical details were shared in the latest update, though reports of the Xterra’s revival surfaced in August last year, after the brand’s North American dealers were shown a preview of a new-generation ladder-frame platform, set to spawn five new models.
At the time, an insider source of Automotive News said one of those five models is set to be the third-generation Xterra, a Toyota LandCruiser Prado and Ford Everest-sized SUV with off-road capabilities, having disappeared from North American showrooms in 2015.
Speaking to Bloomberg in October, Nissan Americas chairman Christian Meunier confirmed the Xterra nameplate would return in 2028, and be built at the brand’s Canton, Mississippi plant where the Frontier pickup is currently produced.
As it did previously, the Xterra will share its body-on-frame platform with the Frontier – which is a step larger than the Navara – but the SUV will be powered by a hybrid V6 engine. Details of the powertrain are yet to be revealed.
The previous Nissan Xterra was powered by a 4.0-litre V6 engine, and was axed in 2015 due to stricter emissions regulations, something which has effectively been repealed in the current Donald Trump Administration.
Nissan will target Toyota’s popular 4Runner with the Xterra, with the Ford Bronco also serving as a natural rival to the SUV.
It’s also expected that Nissan’s luxury brand Infiniti will launch its own version of the Xterra, likely badged as the QX80 – sitting below the Patrol/Armada-twinned QX80 – in a bid to take on the Lexus GX.
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