As Nissan simultaneously works to electrify its product portfolio and figure out how to re-spark its truck strategy, the Japanese automaker could be exploring a product to do both: a small, lightweight electric pickup for the U.S.
Nissan is studying a new model that would slot below its Frontier midsize pickup, according to a person familiar with the matter.
This year, Nissan said that all of its “new vehicle offerings” in key markets will be electrified by the early 2030s.
Small pickups are suddenly an industry white space. The nascent compact pickup segment so far consists of the upcoming Ford Maverick and just-launched Hyundai Santa Cruz, but it is forecast to grow to about 99,000 units in 2023, according to IHS Markit data.
A compact pickup would reposition Nissan in a segment that consumers expect the brand to play in, given its historical success with the Frontier, said Tyson Jominy, vice president for data and analytics at J.D. Power.
“It’s a good pivot for Nissan to offer a pickup in a segment where competitors aren’t there en masse yet,” Jominy said.
Judy Wheeler, Nissan division vice president of sales and regional operations in the U.S, downplayed the speculation of an electric compact pickup but did not rule the idea out.
“There’s all kinds of things under discussion,” Wheeler told Automotive News. “I don’t know that there is any serious discussion there at this point.”
Even so, Wheeler foreshadowed prospects for electrified Nissan pickups.
“I could see that coming,” Wheeler said of an electric powertrain. “The pickup area is kind of interesting. There will be a consumer that’s looking more for a lifestyle vehicle that they can put all their gear in and go off-roading.”
Wheeler noted Nissan has been a pioneer in the electric vehicle space, launching the Leaf hatchback more than a decade ago. “We have this great base that we created with our consumers, our really strong dealer network that not only can sell [EVs], but also have a service network,” she said.
A small pickup would be a natural extension for Nissan, which introduced the small truck segment to Americans in the 1960s under the Datsun brand name.
“Nissan has a long history of creating segments whole cloth and being the first entrant,” Jominy said, citing the Leaf and Xterra off-roader. He said a smaller electric pickup would be a “perfect play” for the brand.
Nissan is near the tail end of a product revival that leans heavily on nostalgia, updating icons such as the Z sports car, Frontier and Pathfinder crossover.
Bringing a small pickup to North America fits nicely with that heritage-focused strategy, said Greg Carrasco, vice president of operations at Oakville Nissan in suburban Toronto.
“Nissan once was a quirky, interesting Japanese car manufacturer that had loyalty because of how many chances they took when it came to design, when it came to performance,” Carrasco said.
But along the way, Nissan forgot who it was, Carrasco said. “That temporary amnesia is kind of curing itself.”
A new pickup could also help Nissan jump-start its stalled momentum in that high-volume, high-margin space.
Nissan’s Titan is dead last in its category, eking out a 1.5 percent share of the 1,161,563 full-size pickups sold this year through June. “It is very hard, I think, for a Japanese company to really do extremely well against the domestics,” Wheeler acknowledged.
Crossovers, sedans and midsize pickups are the “heart and the future for us,” she said. “If we can do Titan, we’ll continue to do Titan. But we’re not going to do crazy stuff.”
Nissan is more optimistic about its prospects in the midsize pickup segment. The brand is hopeful its third-generation Frontier, which arrives in early September, will lift it from fifth place among midsize pickups. Last year, the Frontier’s U.S. sales tallied 36,845.
But Carrasco sees an opportunity for Nissan to stake a claim in the fledging compact pickup segment.
“There are a lot of people that own small properties that don’t need full-size pickup trucks and are looking for fuel-efficient and costs-effective pickups,” he said. “Early adopters are going to be looking at this space, and if there is any market to be had, now’s the time.”
At the same time, the transition to battery-powered vehicles across product segments is just beginning, IHS principal automotive analyst Stephanie Brinley said.
Those new EVs will conquest from combustion engine vehicle owners, Brinley said.
“Entering the compact pickup segment with an EV could prove smart for Nissan, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will increase the brand’s overall volume, ” she said.