Nissan teases Xterra 2029
Nissan confirmed the comeback of the Xterra for the 2029 model year as a body‑on‑frame SUV, saying the revival will offer a choice of a gas‑only V‑6 or a V‑6 hybrid powertrain. (caranddriver.com) (The announcement came out of New York Auto Show coverage over the last 48 hours that focused on which SUVs and future trucks matter to buyers.) (caranddriver.com)
Nissan is bringing back the Xterra as a truck-based sport utility vehicle for the 2029 model year, with sales expected to start in late 2028. (caranddriver.com) Nissan executives told Car and Driver at the New York Auto Show that the new Xterra will offer two powertrains: a gasoline-only V-6 and a V-6 hybrid. The company also ruled out a manual transmission. (caranddriver.com) The revived model returns to the formula that defined the original Xterra: body-on-frame construction, which means an SUV built on a truck chassis instead of a car-like unibody. Nissan’s current Frontier pickup already uses a standard 310-horsepower V-6, and the company said the Xterra’s combustion version will also be a V-6 rather than a turbocharged four-cylinder. (caranddriver.com) (nissanusa.com) That decision reverses Nissan’s earlier direction for Canton, Mississippi, where the company had been planning more electric-vehicle production before shifting back toward trucks and sport utility vehicles. Nissan Americas chairman Christian Meunier said in September 2025 that the Xterra reboot would be built in Canton starting in 2028. (bloomberg.com) (motortrend.com) The timing lines up with where Nissan is finding buyers in the United States. Nissan said its U.S. retail sales rose 9.6 percent in the first quarter of 2026, and it singled out trucks and sport utility vehicles including the Frontier, Pathfinder, Armada, Kicks and Rogue as key drivers. (usa.nissannews.com) The Xterra name has been gone from the U.S. market since the 2015 model year. The original model ran from 2000 through 2015 and built a following as a simpler, off-road-focused alternative to more road-oriented crossovers. (motortrend.com) (usa.nissannews.com) Nissan has not released full specifications, pricing or fuel-economy targets. MotorTrend reported an estimated price range of about $38,000 to $48,000, but Nissan has not published an official sticker yet. (motortrend.com) For Nissan, the teaser is less about nostalgia than product mix. The company is putting the Xterra name back into a U.S. market where buyers have kept rewarding midsize trucks and rugged sport utility vehicles, and where Nissan now says its next Xterra will look “super imposing” when it arrives. (caranddriver.com) (usa.nissannews.com)
