With so many American carmakers’ options, the full-size pickup market was the most difficult to break in.
But Nissan tried to get a slice from it with the Titan XD.

While in other parts of the world, Nissan made a great name for its pickup vehicles, the North-American market was different. Its European or Australian Navara was considered a light-duty pickup, and there were two other sizes to cover. The Japanese carmaker built the Titan, especially to crack that heavy-duty segment. It designed it and built it in the U.S. and took Cummins’ engine to obtain a better vehicle. The transmission remained Japanese.

Big, bold, and square-looking are a must on the heavy-duty pickup segment, and Nissan did that. It installed a big black grille on the front fascia and two headlights that resembled the same shape as those found on the Navara. Depending on the trim level, it featured chromed lower bumper and grille accents. For the Crew Cab version, Nissan installed four doors with the rear ones featuring a wide-open system. The bed was sprayed with special paint, anti-scratching. On the sides, the Titan’s bed featured two storage compartments.

Inside, the front bolstered seats were wide. Between them, the carmaker put a wide center console with a padded armrest and a large storage compartment underneath. There was plenty of room for three in the back, but the carmaker profiled the bench for two and with two headrests.

The technical department worked hard to offer a ladder-chassis able to carry up to 2000 lbs (907 kg) and pull up to 12.000 lbs (5443 kg). While the payload might not impress anyone, the limit was imposed by regulations, not by the Titan’s technical capabilities.