After 15 years on the market, Nissan’s body-on-frame, old-school Xterra SUV is going out of production. No replacement model is mentioned in Nissan’s announcement, and we don’t imagine there will be a new Xterra anytime soon. That’s because although truck and SUV sales are booming on the backs of the unibody crossover segment, the only body-on-frame rigs getting any love of late are pickups and full-size SUVs with big tow capacities and Jeep’s ever-popular Wrangler.
So what did the Xterra in? First of all, it’s old. Like, into-Glenn-Miller, sort-of-doesn’t-know-how-to-text old. After 15 years on sale, the Xterra has seen only one full redesign in 2005, and there are interior pieces that wouldn’t look out of place in a Nissan museum.
But mostly, the Xterra is simply out of step with current consumer desires. It’s big, it’s sort of heavy, and it drinks fuel like it’s 1999. On-road dynamics have never been its strength, but the lifted suspension feels particularly tippy to consumers now used to stable, carlike crossovers, and the 4.0-liter naturally aspirated V-6 has barely more than half the power density of smaller turbocharged sixes from other brands.
The current-generation model’s sales slid from a high of 72,447 in 2005 to just 16,505 last year, with the biggest slash coming in 2008 when the recession and high gas prices hit their hardest. There was no recovery after that. Beyond the bleak sales reports, Nissan also is expected to begin phasing out the current Frontier pickup on which the Xterra is based in preparation for a new one, and the automaker could likely use the extra capacity at its Canton, Mississippi, plant for the new Murano crossover.
- Prototype Drive: Nissan Frontier Powered by Cummins Diesel
- 2015 Nissan Murano Long-Term Test: 40K Miles In Nissan’s Premium Crossover
- Nissan Xterra Research: Full Pricing, Specs, Reviews, and More
We’re saddened by the loss of the Xterra. Like the Jeep Wrangler, there’s a certain appeal to a truck-ish SUV that’s capable off-road and looks it. Nissan even offered a stick shift, including on the bad-ass Pro4X model. Ironically, with gas prices continuing to stay suppressed, the Xterra might just have a place in the market again (heck, even used Hummer sales seem to be on the rise). Could there be room for a new Xterra based on the Frontier’s successor, positioned between the Rogue and the upmarket mid-size Murano? We’ve inquired with Nissan but were given no comment.