Things haven’t been going so great for Nissan over the past handful of years, but it seems like the company is getting back on the right track. The automaker has recently introduced a bunch of new products are actually pretty competitive, like the redesigned Sentra and Leaf, but we’ve known even more exciting stuff is on the horizon. Probably the worst-kept secret is that Nissan is working on a new Xterra, and now the company has officially confirmed the SUV’s return, also announcing that it’ll be one of five new body-on-frame vehicles developed for the U.S. from Nissan and Infiniti.
The announcement was made at an event in Japan announcing “Mobility Intelligence for Everyday Life,” the automaker’s new “long-term vision [and] customer-centric strategic direction.” Nissan said a bunch of nonsense about “AI-driven intelligence” used for vehicle control and safety systems, but let’s ignore that and focus on the product stuff instead. The company will be streamlining its global model lineup from 61 to 45 models, “exiting low-performing models and reallocating reinvestment to growth areas” while introducing more powertrain options; Nissan says 80% of its volume will be covered by “three core families” of vehicles and platforms.
Nissan’s lineups will have four categories of vehicle: Core models that are self-explanatory, “sustain[ing] global business with scale and stability;” Growth models aimed at, well, growing segments where there’s new demand, like China-specific vehicles; Partner models that were created in collaboration with other automakers; and Heartbeat models that “[embody] Nissan’s identity, emotional value, and innovation.” In the U.S. that final category currently just includes the Z, the Leaf and the Armada, but the new Xterra will be joining them in late 2028.
Coming out in late 2028
Though rumors had been swirling for a while, our first concrete info about the new-generation Xterra and its potential siblings came last year after Nissan talked about it at a dealer meeting, with more details from that event coming out just a couple months ago. Now we know it’s for real, for real. Nissan says the “rugged” new Xterra will be produced in the U.S. and be available with V6 or V6 hybrid powertrains, and it’s “exploring a family of five U.S.-built models on a new body-on-frame platform.” Those other vehicles could include pickups and both two- or three-row SUVs for Nissan and Infiniti. Making an Infiniti version of the Xterra feels like a no-brainer move to go after SUVs like the Lexus GX.
Nissan
Nissan’s single teaser image and very brief teaser video aren’t super revealing, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the vehicle shown is just a design concept, but the new Xterra does look pretty awesome. We can see a hood with deep ridges, a slim bar at the top of the nose with three marker lights, rectangular headlight pods, a stamped Nissan script, and what look like three grille openings. I’d bet money on it having a similar greenhouse treatment and tailgate design to past Xterras, too.
What else is Nissan working on?
One of the strangest debuts of last year was the Rogue plug-in hybrid, which is just an extremely basic rebadge job of the Mitsubishi Outlander, but Nissan said it was just a stop-gap model until the next-gen Rogue arrives. Now Nissan is showing off that new Rogue for the first time, and as you can see in the above photo it actually looks pretty good. The Rogue will use Nissan’s e-Power hybrid technology, in which the gas engine works as a generator for a pair of electric motors driving the wheels, a setup already found on nearly two million Nissans around the world since 2016.
Nissan
Nissan also released a photo (shown above) of the next-gen Juke EV, a Core model designed for Europe that looks freaking awesome. Sadly we’re unlikely to get it. Sitting in Nissan’s Heartbeat category alongside the Xterra will be the new Nissan Skyline being developed for Japan, which we’ll get as a replacement for the Infiniti Q50. Previous reports have pointed to that car getting a manual transmission, and the new announcement promises it will “[deliver performance, precision and driver-focused character.” Infiniti will also get a midsize hybrid SUV, probably a version of the Rogue, and two large hybrid SUVs.Â
