There’s been quite a lot of talk over the last few years concerning the replacement for Nissan‘s venerable Titan full-size pickup.

After the plan to offer a Ram based vehicle went away, following Chrysler’s bankruptcy and subsequent restructuring, Nissan chose to go it alone when it came to a next generation big pickup, bringing the entire development and engineering process in-house.

However, those plans, which reportedly would have seen a revamped Titan rolled out in 2013, have now been pushed back at least a year, largely as a result of supplier fallout from Japan’s natural disaster back in March. This has left the automaker scrambling to get production back on track as a top priority, diverting resources away from some upcoming vehicle programs.

As a result, during a Q&A session with Automotive News at the LA Auto Show last month, Andy Palmer, Nissan’s vice president for vehicle planning and program management, stated that, regarding a new Titan, “we will come out a little later now. I have made the decision.”

As to what form the new Titan will take, or which powertrains it will offer, little is known at this time, though expect V6 and possibly V8 engines as well as extended and crew cab models. It’ll be also interesting to see if Nissan will attempt to target heavier-duty customers with this one (it’s Titan based NV van currently comes in 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton and 1-ton configurations).

Perhaps the most exciting addition to the new Titan, however, will be the addition of a Cummin’s sourced diesel engine.

[Source: Autoweek]

The world’s economy stinks, gas is expensive and we’re all watching our wallets closely.

You might assume that would also indicate less car parts being sold, but not for diesel engine manufacturer Cummins. “Several of the economies where Cummins operates are clearly weakening,” COO Tom Linebarger told analysts last month. “We really don’t know how deep it will go. We are confident in the long-term profitable growth of the company.”

The Columbus, Ind. based manufacturer builds natural gas and diesel engines and despite the worlds money woes is projecting a sharp rise in diesel fuel demand. Last month Cummins told analysts they forecast to grow by more than 60 per cent and reach $30 billion in 2015.

Over the next five years the company also plans to hire 7000 new engineers to compensate for increased demand. They hope doing so will allow them to develop new engines to meet increasingly stringent efficiency standards.

They owe their expansion in large part to overseas demand in emerging economies like China and South America and India where there is still high demand for construction equipment, but it isn’t the only reason.

The company is also expanding its production for consumer vehicles. Nissan is currently working on putting a 2.8-liter direct injection turbocharged four-cylinder from Cummins into its 2015 Titan pickup. Once available, the new generation Titan will be one of the most efficient full-size pickups on the market.

Cummins also supplies diesel engines to Chrysler Group in the U.S. light vehicle market and to Dodge for its line of Ram pickup trucks.

[Source: autonews.com]

Nissan is planning a dozen new cars for the next few years, including redesigned Altima and Sentra sedans, some new trucks, and an electric vehicle for Infiniti.

The Altima, Sentra, and Titan are getting long in the tooth, and even the Maxima and Murano. Those will get replaced with all new cars before 2014. Infiniti will get a new three-row luxury crossover, tenatively called the JX, and a front-wheel-drive hatchback to fight the Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series compacts. The NV200, now the official taxicab of New York City, will soon be available to Cash Cab enthusiasts. The popular G37 and G25 will get replaced, possibly without their manual transmissions, and an electric vehicle based on the Leaf will allow luxury drivers to assuage their financial guilt.

If you counted only 10 cars in the preceding paragraph, it shows that you’ve been paying attention (thank you!), and you would be right—there are still two surprises Nissan is holding from us. One is the return of the flagship Infiniti, for those lamenting the death of the unloved Q45. And one could be a mystery vehicle for Nissan that could be as wacky as the Murano CrossCabriolet—could it be a small sports car like the Urge concept? After all, the 240SX deserves to make a comeback.

[Source: Car And Driver]

Back in September, the US Department of Energy, in conjunction with Nissan Motor Co, green lighted a proposal to test a Cummins four-cylinder turbo-diesel in the full-size Titan pickup.

The program was largely conceived to help big trucks like the Titan achieve better fuel economy, in lieu of the 35.5 miles per gallon CAFE requirements (that now also include light trucks), scheduled to be phased in in 2015.

The test engine, a 2.8-liter unit cranks out 350 lb/ft of torque at 1800 rpm making it comparable with the Titan’s existing 5.6-liter V-8. However substantial gains in fuel economy have already been achieved, the diesel is said to currently allow a 2WD Titan to achieve around 28 miles per gallon, a sizeable improvement on the V-8 truck’s 13/18 mpg (city/highway).

Cummins says this new diesel can be built in either 2.8 and 3.5-liter forms and thanks to the use of high strength steel pistons, is not only a sturdy engine but also rather compact by diesel standards, not that compactness is of real concern when installing one in a Titan.

The test program is scheduled to run through September this year and it will be interesting to see what further results develop when it comes to capability and fuel economy. However, regulators are now proposing even tougher fuel economy standards for 2025, as much as 62 mpg. With such shifting targets, in such a short period time, the ability of any pickup truck manufacturer to meet them is going to prove challenging at best.

[Source: Automotive News]

A $30 million federal- government grant, half funded by the Department of Energy is development of a high efficiency Cummins four-cylinder diesel engine to be used in the Nissan Titan.

This engine will allow the Titan to shed its guzzler status and become one of the most fuel-efficient full size pickup trucks on the market. This 2.8-liter direct-injection turbocharged four-cylinder will likely boast over 30 mpg on the highway and promises to deliver as much torque as small-displacement gasoline V-8s. The Cummins ISF engine is offered in 2.8 and 3.8-liter displacements is capable of 168-hp and 443 lb-ft of torque. This engine is being developed for use in the next generation 2015 Nissan Titan.

[Source: Pickuptrucks.com]

When Nissan finally gets around to replacing the Titan pickup truck, there’s a solid chance it will come with a diesel powerplant – at least as an option.

Previous reports had indicted that there was a possibility, but in a recent interview, Nissan product boss Larry Dominique gave his strongest endorsement yet, commenting that, “diesel is certainly something we are looking at for the next generation Titan.”

The interview was actually a part of Nissan’s “win a chance to be an auto show reporter” contest, and considering all the questions and answers were likely vetted and prepared, this adds more weight to Dominique’s remarks.

Further discussing the issue of diesels Dominique says the introduction of such a powerplant would be based on “consumer demand for greater fuel economy.” Commenting that most consumers tow under 8,000 lbs and don’t require 800 lb-ft of torque, don’t look for a Heavy Duty diesel-powered Titan in the future. “Small displacement diesels or mid-size displacement diesels are certainly something we’d consider,” says Dominique.

Since a partnership with Chrysler fell through on the next-gen Titan, company execs have remained committed to the idea, but we’re not likely to see a second-generation of the Nissan pickup until at least 2014.

We regret to inform you that the subject matter behind the enticing title won’t live up to whatever thoughts are circulating in your head. Rather, Forbes’ list of “Americas Dirtiest Vehicles” has to do with pollution and gas mileage, and is mostly comprised of cars we ourselves would want to own.

Forbes used a variety of factors to determine what qualified for the list, with both carbon emissions and fuel consumption factoring in to the economy. “Heavy Duty” trucks were left off the list, as well performance cars that only get driven on special occasions, like the Ferrari 599 GTO (and, apparently, Mercedes’ AMG lineup).

Hit the jump to see the list for yourself

[Source: Forbes]

America’s Dirtiest Vehicles

Audi S5

Buick Lucerne

Cadillac CTS-V

Chevrolet Corvette

GMC Yukon

Mercedes-Benz E350

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution

Mitsubishi Eclipse

Nissan Titan

Toyota Sienna

It’s one of the longest running pickups in the full-size half ton market, but Nissan‘s Titan has proved to be an overall disappointment  and the next generation truck will address many of those shortcomings according to recent comments from the company.

“We’re going to do things the right way,” said Larry Dominuque, Nissan North America’s chief product planner, ” the right way of marketing, the right way of product quality, to make sure we don’t have any of the hiccups of the first generation.” The original Titan was introduced as a 2004 model, but limited options and marketing meant it never achieved it’s goal of selling 100,000 units annually. Today, demand has whittled from over 86,000 in 2005 to less than 20,000 units last year.

Nissan had planned to introduce a second generation truck based heavily on the current Dodge Ram, but when Fiat took control of the Detroit automaker last year, those plans were put on ice. Now it appears that the second generation Titan will use many carryover parts from the current truck, possibly including the F-Alpha frame architecture, but Dominque also says that it will sport some Ram cues as well. “Elements of the Chrysler joint venture is in the design – we liked the direction we were going so why change?”

As for powertrain features, levels of capability and a tentative launch date, nothing has yet been stated, though rumors of using Nissan’s own 4.7 liter V8 as found in the mid-size F-Alpha Pathfinder and an on-sale date of some time in 2014, continue to persist.

[Source: Ward's Auto World]

Texas is truck country, so when you’re looking to organize an event for loyal pickup customers it would seem the best place to do it. Recently, Nissan decided to just that, putting on its first ever truck rally for Frontier and Titan owners at Hidden Falls Adventure Park, not far from the state capital Austin. The park contains more than 200 miles of off road trails and allowed Nissan to bring together more than 41 Frontier and Titan owners for a three day shindig with an off-roading theme.

Besides the owners, professional instructors were on hand to help guide them along marked trails, while a group of Nissan’s engineering, product planning and marketing staff were on hand to talk with the truck owners and their families. Part of this event was to get feedback regarding the existing trucks and what features buyers might be looking for in the next evolution of Nissan’s pickups including the upcoming Titan. “These guys are passionate about their trucks,” stated Chief Nissan marketing manager for trucks Dan Tons. “We asked them why they choose Nissan. They said they were looking for a vehicle that fit their needs, was priced right and could handle their capabilities best.”

Added Tiago Castro, Senior Planner for Nissan trucks – “we wanted a firsthand opportunity to talk to customers who currently own Titans. We wanted to learn what they like and don’t like about the Titan and to also have interaction with them like we do for other Nissan vehicles, like the Z car. A lot of these guys get together on their own, but this time we wanted to facilitate that meeting.”

[Source: Pickup trucks.com]

After the plan to sell a new Titan derived from the Dodge Ram 1500 was canned a couple of years ago, Nissan‘s full-size pickup has remained somewhat in limbo. For the 2011 model year, the Titan will solider on with only minor updates, essentially 4×4 badging added to the tail gate of four-wheel drive models and revised names for trim levels – S, SV and SL in place of the previous (and familiar) XE, SE and LE.

For off-road fans, the Pro 4X will continue unchanged. Other than that, the 2011 will be much like the current Titan, employing just a single engine – a 5.6-liter single overhead cam V8 with 317 horsepower. It’s a flex fuel engine with E85 capability and Nissan claims that with it, the Titan can tow up to 9,500 lbs, but the lack of change and options compared with some rivals, especially Ford, Ram and GM, is likely to further hurt sales, which have trailed off considerably in the last few years. Rumors indicate that their might be an all new Titan by 2014, but by then the original will have been on the market for more than a decade with very few changes, which might hurt Nissan’s chance to gain new full-size truck customers.

Read AutoGuide’s 2010 Nissan Titan Review here.

Nissan is preparing to recall 48,700 trucks and SUVs for issues relating to the suspension on the U.S.-built vehicles. Some of, but not all 2010 Nissan Armada, Frontier, Titan, Pathfinder, Xterra and Infiniti QX56 models are expected to be involved in the recall. No official recall has been issued yet, however, as Nissan awaits information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The issue with the trucks and SUVs involves a lower suspension control link that may not have been welded properly and as a result cause the bushing collar to crack, creating a rough and noisy ride. The potential recall isn’t so much a safety issue as a driveability issue and no accidents have been reported.

In the wake of the Toyota recall crisis, NHTSA has also been under increased scrutiny, issuing an alarmingly high number of recalls.

[Source: Associated Press]

It’s been around what seems like forever, but the venerable Nissan Titan is proving that there’s still some life left in it yet. After plans to offer a badge engineered version of the Ram were canceled last year, the original 2003-vintage truck has been soldiering on. Production of the Canton, Mississippi built full-size truck bottomed out last year, but so far, in 2010, sales have been on a rebound. Through the end of last week, Nissan has built 10,886 Titans for the model year, versus 1,256 over the same period in 2009, when overall Titan sales totals stood at a dismal 19,042 units in a generally bad year for the automotive industry.

According to John Schilling, a spokesman for Nissan North America Inc., “the general overall improving economy seems to be driving sales, which are trending higher. We’re seeing more demand for Titan.” No doubt helping are a number of incentives, including zero percent financing for 60 months and $5000 cash back on selected Titan models.

[Source: pickuptrucks.com]