The Nissan Xterra is official at this point, though it doesn’t quite look like we expected.
Right now, the only “off-road” cars Nissan offers up are the Rogue and Pathfinder Rock Creek. Neither are any particular threat to, say, a Jeep Wrangler, a Ford Bronco or a Toyota 4Runner. The automaker is (finally) looking to change all that with a proper body-on-frame SUV folks have been anxiously awaiting since the last generation went out of production a decade ago: a new Xterra.
Fast forward to Monday evening, and Nissan gave everyone not just official confirmation that it is coming, but a teaser of what it will actually look like. When it finally arrives in production form, probably for the 2029 model year, the company will have a gas-powered and hybrid SUV capable of taking on the popular off-road competition.
In its official statement, Nissan says, “the all-new rugged [Xterra] SUV will be produced in the United States, further strengthening Nissan’s manufacturing footprint and capability offering for North American customers. The launch is targeted for late 2028 (emphasis added).”
Nissan didn’t offer any specific technical specs with today’s announcement. However, it did further affirm information we already had from earlier reports and recent executive statements. Namely, the new Xterra will arrive with a V6 powertrain, with or without hybridization in the mix.
As far as the styling, the new Nissan Xterra looks to get a boxy, brawny exterior with distinctive hood lines and three amber running lights across the top edge of the fascia (a throw to the old-school Pathfinders). Instead of a traditional grille, though, the SUV gets huge “NISSAN” script stamped into the front end, with three trapezoidal openings for the actual grille. Flanking those are the lower-mounted headlights, though all we can see here are three extra dash-like running lights in each assembly. Even with the brief silhouette, this definitely doesn’t look like any other Nissan, and that’s a good thing. The automaker needs this new Xterra to stand out against its rivals, and while there’s still a decent wait ahead of us, here’s hoping they can deliver a proper Wrangler and Bronco fighter.
The Xterra is just the start…
Alongside actually confirming the Xterra, there’s another important line in the company’s official statement. This body-on-frame platform may expand beyond the Xterra itself, with the company “exploring” as many as four additional new models on the same architecture. Nissan mentions the potential for pickups and “multi-row SUVs” alongside its new off-roader, across both the Nissan and Infiniti brands.
The key word there is “potential”, of course, so none of those are a given just yet. Nevertheless, we could be talking about a next-generation Frontier (makes sense, given the old Xterra was also based on the last-gen Frontier), as well as the supposed addition of a frame-built Pathfinder to the lineup. Alongside the Pathfinder, we could also see a next-generation QX60 go body-on-frame too.
