Enthusiasts and off-roaders rejoice, because Nissan’s coming for you. Hot on the heels of news that Nissan believes “it’s logical” for the Pathfinder to return to its roots as a body-on-frame vehicle comes pricing for the Xterra revival: affordability will be key.
At the Los Angeles Auto Show on Thursday, Nissan SVP Michael Soutter exclusively told The Drive the reborn and upcoming Xterra has “got to start sub $40,000,” and kids, “it’s got to come in yellow,” the executive said.
It’s all about family, because that’s what the Xterra will be part of. Soutter said wants the Xterra to be the first in a “family” of body-on-frame vehicles with localized production in the U.S., which would include the Frontier pickup, the Xterra, it seems a body-on-frame Pathfinder, and Soutter even nodded to the Armada sitting on the 2025 LA auto show floor giving a subtle nod that the large SUV might get made in America as well.
Soutter wouldn’t divulge exact details on the Xterra’s features, but when it comes to what the off-road SUV will and won’t be the executive was clear: “We got to put what the customers need, everything it needs, and everything that we don’t need does not go in there, okay? So it’s not gonna be, you know, super high tech and high cost because that’s not what the customers were looking for. Look, the capability, you know, fun, adventure, you know, hearkening back to the initial, the Xterra.”
For off-roading Soutter said the new Xterra has to be “a very competent vehicle. It’s got to be able to take on these things. Maybe you’ll never go off road with it, but you have to have the feeling that you could do anything with this vehicle. And I think that’s where it’s headed.”
The new Xterra will have a 2-speed transfer case with 4Lo, Soutter confirmed.
Soutter said the Xterra has to have “you know, the capability to do all these off road activities that you aspire to do, even if you never do it. And that includes rock crawling and everything else.”
The new Xterra will be “designed from the beginning to have the capability of all this uplifting built in,” Soutter said. Whether uplifting lift kits and larger tires from the factory is something Nissan gets into from day one or leaves to the aftermarket is an open question, but the margins on off-road upgrades are large, and Nissan’s watching Jeep and Ford along with Toyota grab cash on the table.
“Unfortunately, sometimes we launch a great vehicle, and we don’t have the necessary wiring hookups or a pilot holes to add accessories. And it’s kind of like an afterthought. Should be really upfront in the upstream part of the planning,” Soutter noted looking at the Frontier sitting feet from us on the show floor. “I think we’re getting better at that. I can tell you that our chairman is super passionate about this next era project, and deeply, deeply involved in the planning to make sure that we have all the things that we need for the future,” Soutter continued.
“I don’t think it needs one,” Soutter said when asked if the Xterra will have a manual transmission. He continued, “I personally like having manual transmissions. Okay, so I’ve had lots of off road vehicles in the past that were manual, lots of two seater roadsters that were manual. I certainly like it. It is not a huge demand, so I don’t think it absolutely has to have one. Actually, I haven’t even thought about whether we, you know, put that capability in there. So I would say, no, it doesn’t necessarily have to have it.”
When asked if the Xterra will have removable doors Soutter said, “I’m gonna say that, uh, I think it would be super cool if it did. I’ll tell you that it adds a ton of cost, okay? And it’s very complicated to do with the water intrusion and everything else. So we want to make sure that we have the right price point, and that we’re giving the customers everything they need, and nothing that they don’t.”
In terms of what the new Xterra is going to be Soutter summed it up with “it’s got to be fun, simple, and capable.”
www.thedrive.com
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