My daughter is currently obsessed with the musical Hamilton, so I’ve got the songs constantly running in the background of my day. I think it’s a fun way to get people into history and I try not to be bothered by the way some convenient breaks in the timeline are used to bring Alexander Hamilton and his main antagonists together. History is just a set of lies agreed upon, anyway, right?
I do think James Madison gets a bit shortchanged, mostly because having to include both him and James Monroe is too confusing, so we get a bit of a convenient conflation (or maybe it’s Monroe who gets the short shrift). When the history of this era is written, will Nissan’s decision to sell a bunch of body-on-frame vehicles be seen as a response to the Trump Administration’s defanging of fuel economy standards, or was this just a thing that was going to happen anyway? Is the new Xterra the poster child for a new reality? In Europe, it’s a different world, and Nissan will sell a new Juke. I’m a big fan of how it looks.
Back in the United States, BMW sets itself apart from Audi by only losing a small number of sales, although Lexus is right there. Some of this is just because of the loss of the EV tax credit, although this loss doesn’t seem to be stopping used EV sales.
The New Xterra Is The First Of Many Body-On-Frame Vehicles
Last night’s big Nissan news, if you’re a normal person, is that the 2027 Nissan Rogue ePower is going fully hybrid. It’s an interesting system, being a series hybrid instead of parallel hybrid (or the weird Honda combo). Like pretty much every modern crossover, it’s going to be unibody. A body-on-frame vehicle in this class doesn’t make any real sense.
There was some talk of AI-defined Vehicles (AIDV) as a next-gen substitute for Software-Defined Vehicles (SDV). As an enthusiast, I’m less-enthused by that, and it’s very much a believe-it-when-I-see-it situation.
I was chatting with an old colleague of new Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa, and what he wanted to impress upon me was that Espinosa was a legit enthusiast and it would be good for the company. Last night’s event included a little view of that with the new Skyline teased and, for America, the return of the Xterra.
Here’s what Nissan said:
The all-new rugged SUV will be produced in the United States, further strengthening Nissan’s manufacturing footprint and capability offering for North American customers. The launch is targeted for late 2028.
Nissan is exploring a family of five U.S.-built models on a new body-on-frame platform including the all-new Xterra, with potential expansion to pickups and multi-row SUVs across Nissan and INFINITI brands.
Giving customers more capability, versatility and choice across key segments, the model family will also feature V6 or new V6 Hybrid powertrains.
Five body-on-frame vehicles built in the United States? That’s a lot of BOF. Reading between the lines, here’s a rough guess for what that looks like:
- Xterra
- New Nissan pickup (probably a Frontier developed with Mitsubishi)
- Three-row SUV built on the same platform
- Infiniti two- or three-row
- Infiniti truck?!?
This follows Hyundai showing off the Boulder Concept in New York as a preview for a future series of vehicles built on its upcoming body-on-frame platform.
Is this newfound love of body-on-frame vehicles a reaction to the delaying of the EV dream and everyone’s overreaction to electric cars? Is this an overreaction itself? BOF vehicles are, historically, heavier and less efficient than comparable unibody vehicles. While modern BOF trucks ride and driver better than past versions, they’re still trucks.
My guess is that some of this is a result of the new relaxing of environmental regulations and, specifically, it has to do with the One Big Beautiful Bill getting rid of corporate average fuel economy penalties by setting the fine to $0. A new administration could quickly reverse that if it had the votes, though I’m not sure it would be the first thing on the agenda.
A big part of this is just a response to demand. American consumers like big SUVs, whether unibody or BOF. Additionally, Nissan execs have been begging for a new Xterra as a way to compete with the popular 4Runner, Wrangler, and Bronco.
One of the other things Nissan talked about was cutting the number of models and thinking more about architectures than individual cars, which is something most automakers do well but Nissan has historically been bad at implementing (because it keeps merging with different companies). As Nissan says in a different press release:
As part of the vision, Nissan is transforming its industrial model through the Nissan Product Family strategy.
This will move the company’s focus from model‑by‑model optimization to architecture‑led development built on shared platforms, powertrains, and software.
Nissan will concentrate development around three core product families that will account for more than 80 percent of global volume, increase volume per model by over 30 percent while accelerating development speed and technology rollout.
By aligning product design and industrial execution from the start, Nissan strengthens quality, improves cost discipline, and enables faster, more competitive product launches at scale.
If Nissan launches this vehicle, it needs to build a bunch of other things on the same platform, so SUVs just make sense. Does an Infiniti truck make sense? Probably not, but I want one to exist.
So, to get back to the original question, is this a reaction to the reduction of environmental standards? My sense is that it’s only in scale. Nissan is planning to offer these either with a V6 or a hybrid V6 and not the return of Nissan’s big V8. Both of these powertrains will probably be net more efficient than whatever it is they’re replacing.
CAFE is an average and the popularity of a bunch of trucks would require a lot of other offsets in the past. The EPA under Biden respected the endangerment finding that said that car emissions contribute to global warming. This EPA has tossed that (pending litigation). Some of this will probably come back under a future administration, just in a different way.
The old environmental regime didn’t stop Ford from selling Broncos, Braptors, Rangers, Ranger Raptors, et cetera. The difference is that Ford and Stellantis had to pay for those vehicles, usually in an offset payment that went to Tesla. That’s probably not easy for Nissan to do, and now it doesn’t have to worry about it.
Hyundai and Nissan were probably always going to wind up in this place, but now there’s less of a need to offset those big BOF trucks with something else, giving automakers a chance to build more variants without thinking about it too hard.
Oh, Hi! It’s A New Nissan Juke
We all liked the Nissan Juke, even if it only survived one generation in the United States. Ok, well, maybe SWG didn’t like the Juke as much as the rest of us.
There’s a new one for not-America and it seems pretty cool:
Agile, compact, and unmistakably Nissan, this first-ever EV Juke carries personality and emotion into the EV era, reimagining one of Europe’s most distinctive compact crossovers. It forms part of Nissan’s broader strategy to offer an electrified powertrain for every type of customer today.
Since its original launch in 2010, JUKE has captured the imagination of 1.5M customers across Europe, reshaping the compact crossover segment with its daring and unconventional design. The new JUKE retains that character while introducing a fully electric powertrain, supporting Nissan’s journey towards to zero-emission mobility.
EV-only, Europe-only (for now), and built in the UK.
BMW Crushes Audi, But Lexus Isn’t Far Behind
BMW is one the European luxury brand in the United States that seems to have paced its EV rollout fairly well. Sales were down a bit in Q1, though not by a huge margin. BMW saw a drop of about 3.9% quarter-over-quarter to 87,615 cars delivered.
That probably means share growth for BMW, because in the same quarter Mercedes saw its US sales drop by about 3% to 78,500 (including vans), but Audi plummeted by a wild 30%. Yikes!
Curiously, there’s another luxury automaker who also is doing relatively well. Lexus saw its sales only drop by 2.5%, meaning its 80,952 sales put it in striking distance of BMW. That’ll be fun to watch.
‘That Never Used To Happen’ Used Buyers Seem Cool With EVs
If I was in the market for an off-lease EV would I consider a Mustang Mach-E Rally? Definitely. The huge number of electric cars coming off-lease in the next 2-3 years is going to be a boon for consumers, and some of the upside is starting to appear right as gas prices climb.
There’s a good piece from my buddy Kyle Stock over at Bloomberg about this sudden rise in affordable used EVs, and I thought this quote was interesting:
“Overall, the skepticism on the EV segment is all but gone,” said Steve Renard, executive manager of Infiniti of Tacoma at Fife. “Now, it’s not that difficult to show an EV to a gas customer; that never used to happen.”
If you’ve got $20,000 for a used car and your choices are a relatively old Honda Accord or a certified Hyundai Ioniq 5 I bet it’s hard to buy the Honda.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
There are too many noteworthy performances in Hamilton to isolate one, and a lot of the songs tend to bleed into one another given its libretto-ish style. The one that stands alone and that I never get mad about hearing is Jonathon Groff’s mad (er, upset) King George doing “You’ll Be Back.”
The Big Question
What should the BOF Nissans and Infinitis be?
Top photo: Nissan
“Nissan will sell a new Juke.”
The JUKE makes me want to PUKE
“AI-defined Vehicles (AIDV) as a next-gen substitute for Software-Defined Vehicles (SDV)”
I’m going to PUKE again…
Ok, I’m back. Can’t a vehicle just be a… vehicle? Does anyone really need AI, especially related to a… vehicle?!
NO, no one needs or wants AI…
and if you do; enjoy wasting your life…maybe actually get up and go outside for once and get some fresh air
Sigh. Please stop repeating this tired bit of pop-philosophy.
Do you have to consider the biases of the historian when you read any history? Absolutely. Should we have been a bit more skeptical of George Custer’s wife when she pushed the revisionist history that he was a great general taken before his time? Sure we should. Does the fact that we collectively agreed with her for a very long time mean he was a great general? No, it does not.
Fortunately, through careful examination of the known facts about his life we were able to correct that misrepresentation. That’s history at work.
Nihilistic “history is all lies” BS like this is how we get the history-denying (and repeating!) culture we have today.
Perhaps, but if I were an automotive CEO I wouldn’t be betting on this administration’s policies lasting an entire product design cycle, never mind that plus an entire generation of sales.
Re: Hamilton, I have a lot of guilt over the fact that my favorite character is the white guy, but damn if Jonathon Groff is not perfect in that part.
I remember my daughter’s Hamilton phase – that was a good time. She asked for the soundtrack on vinyl for Christmas and about a year later the show finally came to a theatre near us. Getting tickets proved to be interesting. The place itself sold the tickets directly, but some greedy piece of shit had set up a spoof-site redirecting to a 3rd-party re-sale site. I thought the tickets were all selling for over $350 and told my daughter they were too expensive, sorry we can’t go. She happened to go on a field trip sometime after, saw a billboard advertising tickets “still available” from $60 and texted me about it.
I figured things out from there after first checking StubHub, and smelling something fishy after seeing much cheaper tickets listed. A couple more careful Google-searches later and we were good to go. And for the record, it was an excellent show!
As to a BOF Nissan? Station wagons, they’re due for a comeback.
As a frequent concert goer, I now start all ticket searches at the Venue website.
Save BOF stories for Wednesdays.
Annoying co-worker(camel) walks through office
“Mickey!Mickey!Mike! Guess what day it is!”
Automotive News had an article yesterday mentioning Mitsubishi is planning a new Pajero. I have to wonder if 1 of the 5 BOF vehicles is for Mitsubishi, as co-developing that with the new Xterra would make sense (just like the pickup mentioned).
It would make sense for 2 of the 5 to be Mitsubishis.
If a guy from an Infinity dealer in Fife says that, it’s gotta be true.
Fife is the car dealership economies of scale town just outside of Tacoma proper, very blue collar. I’d take that quote serious, five years ago people from that area (generalizing a bit) wouldn’t be even thinking about an EV.
Nissan should’ve started federalizing the Xterra they already sell in the Middle East as soon as the Bronco was announced.
GM should’ve done the same with the international Trailblazer, which is just a Colorado wagon. They could’ve even sold it here as a GMC in addition to teh new Blazer and TB they already have here. GMC Jimmy or Envoy.
Here’s the Middle east Xterra:
https://powerspeeds.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2024-Nissan-Xterra-768×434.png
Here’s the international Trailblazer:
https://chevroletenginenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2026-Chevy-TrailBlazer-Exterior.jpg
And again, both of these *already* exist
I just hope that Nissan remembers that before we loved the XTerra for being a BOF truck, we first loved it for having a little medical kit in the back. So many XTerra owners out there, just waiting for that first injury…
Hopefully it won’t sprain your wallet.
Or break the bank.
My LS400 is still rocking 26 year old gauze and topical antibiotics under the driver’s seat.
Isn’t one of the benefits of BOF construction that you have two more-or-less separate things? Theoretically, in addition to having a variety of bodies on a common frame, what’s to stop a company from hedging their bets and designing multiple frames to go under a common body to accommodate different powertrains (EV, EREV, hybrid, gas, etc.)? That would give you the flexibility to adapt to changing regulations and politics without having to retool the whole thing.
That was my thought as well. Develop separate powertrains on unique chassis that mate to the same body as a hedge against future consumer tastes. Unibody vehicles that offer BEV, HEV and ICE options tend to be compromises between the powertrain options. But separating the body from the chassis means much fewer compromises.
The old Nissan frame was used with minimal changes between the Frontier, Pathfinder, Xterra, and even Titan and would accomodate the V6 and V8 so there is precedent.
The Titan XD, I believe, had a different frame since it was developed later.
Nissan:
-Xterra
-XLterra
-Xtrucka
Infiniti:
-QXterra
-QXLterra
-QXtrucka
Xoguea? Xubea? Xfindera? That last one sounds like a naughty website hah
The only one I would add is if they brought back the full size truck.
The XLtrucka/QXLtrucka
Xtra, obviously
Any automaker making sweeping changes to their lineup on the basis of the EPA…uh…realigning its adherence to previously held positions on the validity of science is being very foolish. This isn’t going to last, not long enough to make it through a product cycle without losing money on your upfront costs. Or at least, I hope it won’t.
Will they have a plan to address renewed standards?
I can only quote the second redux of “You’ll Be Back”:
“You’re on your own.
Awesome! Wow!
Do you have a clue what happens now?”
I feel like the causality question in the headline is backwards. It’s less “they’re bringing it back because of changes to the EPA” and more “they only got rid of it in the first place because of the EPA”. The demand was always high and the penalties were the only reason they nixed it. It’s completely summed up by this bit of the article “ The difference is that Ford and Stellantis had to pay for those vehicles, usually in an offset payment that went to Tesla. That’s probably not easy for Nissan to do, and now it doesn’t have to worry about it.”
While modern BOF trucks ride and driver better than past versions, they’re still trucks.
You write that like it’s a bad thing.
I know, right? “they’re still trucks”… That’s a GOOD thing. If I wanted a unibody SUV I’d go buy another Jeep XJ.
Exactly.
BMW has soooooo many different models out now. The shotgun approach.
It makes me wonder if there’ll be a cull to come.
Why? The magic of modern “toolkit” platforms is it makes it cheap to spin off variations to hit smaller market segments.
cheap-er
But still leads to unique parts and another complexity into your production even if there’s some sharing. It ultimately drives cost into all models (yes, it’s less than if they were totally different platforms).
Funny that Lexus is catching up despite far fewer unique models.
When the variation sells for $5K+ more per unit as the BMW “coupe” XAVs do, it doesn’t matter. It’s 95% the same bits, a few different body panels and interior bits makes very little difference, and the really expensive stuff is all the same.
Sales numbers in and of themselves are largely meaningless, and little more than bragging rights. Profit matters. Historicaly, Porsche made far more profit than VW despite selling a tiny fraction of the number of cars, as one extreme example. And perhaps if Lexus had more models appealing to more people, they would sell more cars? Especially at the top of the market, people want it “thier way” and are willing to pay for that. One-size-fits-all loses sales.
I mean, why the heck not have an e-power Frontier or Xterra? The electric motors would be great for low-speed torque, and there would be some packaging advantages to not having to mess with driveshafts. Sure, they would almost certainly be IFS/IRS, but if you’re going for something like a desert racer that doesn’t need to articulate like a rock crawler, it ought to be fine…
Yes because it was never about EV or gas, it was price. I bought a used EV because it had more features, lower mileage and cost less than an equivalent used ICE vehicle. Now that EVs are price competitive, people are finally buying them.
Exactly what I have gotten one and I have been pushing my dad to go EV especially used because what you get vs a comparable gasser/hybrid you can get pretty much the same or more features for the same price or even less and also with gas prices he will be saving money charging at home. He also won’t have to worry about as much maintenance he is in his 60s now and doubt he will want to do all the fluid and brake changes on a DD especially with the classic cars we have between us always requiring some form of work.
The media will tell you it was about “stigma” and that stigma is all but gone now…… which to your point shows us that it was about price and not stigma all along.
The new Juke looks like a crumpled-up piece of paper.
I’m seeing shades of Halo Warthog.
The Nissan Warts-On-Your-Hog
Not sure that one’s gonna make it through the focus group.
Making it through the group was how the warts got there!
lol
Remember, wrap it in foil before checking oil. Unless you only have one car you drive, and have been driving it long-term.
“Introducing the 2025 Wartburg!”
It’s 1991, right?
(Actually I’d still rather get the Accord that my Dad bought new in 91 and sold at 240K and still ran like a top)
Stop making up animals!
*Frank Gehry has entered the chat*
The new Nissan body on frame platform, code named BOFA, will underpin a couple new D-segment SUV’s. So I’d say BOFA D’s will be just fine
I say nuts to that!
TBQ: I remember reading somewhere (probably Automotive News), that the BOF family will consist of
Let’s hope this V6 + hybrid system gets better fuel economy than Toyota’s i-Force Max system. The Canton plant is about to get very busy!
“Now, it’s not that difficult to show an EV to a gas customer; that never used to happen.”
Yeah it never used to happen because dealers were the main culprits in directing customers away from EVs and hybrids.
“What should the BOF Nissans and Infinitis be?”
Along with the new Frontier, a new full size van and a new full size pickup truck (Titan).
I would also say a new Nissan Patrol… but that already exists in the form of the Armada.
A few years ago, Nissan dropped their big vans (that were actually Panel Deliveries, a hill I’ll die on) and they recently dropped the Titan. That leaves the Frontier as their only BOF vehicle sold and built in the US. I bet they have plenty of extra BOF-building capacity at the Tennessee plant.
Okay let’s start building more larger vehicles and less EV’s as fuel prices increase. It seems to me that the industry cannot think more than one move at a time.
Apparently the 1970’s taught them nothing.
Major product decisions like this might be made a decade in advance. Fuel prices fluctuate daily.
The optics of this announcement are bad because of the geopolitical situation, but it would be asking a lot of any company to forecast the cost of Brent crude in 2027, let alone the 2030s.
Yes yes but 24hr news cycle, always on information online and a culture that demands only short term thinking!
Carbureted Charger. Just wait. I bet they reveal it in the next couple months. Super high priced special edition that they will make 500-1000 of them. 2027 it jumps to 3000-5000 due to demand. 2028 jumps to 20k. 2029- axed permanently. These become the most desired vintage car in history 20 years from now.
“Final Edition”
Only to be repeated for four years.
Wow. It’s so hard to predict that the average consumer just wants an inexpensive, well made vehicle.
I’m guessing your betting on sub $3 a gallon gas by July Fourth.
I have the receipts.
Why can’t a BOF truck or SUV be inexpensive or well made? Knowing Nissan, I’d bet on the former, maybe not as much on the latter.
Gas is down ~60 cents from the peak locally BTW.
It doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict that fuel economy standards might be coming back in…oh about the time this Xterra is released.
Americans have the memories of goldfish. They’ll make the same harmful to themselves and harmful to their futures mistakes every single time. They never learn.
Hey Nissan, you need to adjust your STL export settings on that Juke.
Rendered on a Playstation 1.
In recent years I’ve rooted for Nissan but the market hasn’t seemed to agree. The newer Titans were nice trucks but got dropped last year. The new Frontier seems like a solid midsize truck but I hardly see any of them. So I hope they can do something notable with their new trucks, and their Xterra better have something more interesting than an integrated first-aid kit to play in the BOF SUV market.
The North American D40 Frontier hasn’t been properly updated since its introduction in 2005.
It’s been minor adjustments here-and-there, with the current D41 being a series of tweaks on the original and it shows.
It’s pretty long in the tooth.
I kinda dig its old school approach.
I’m seriously considering a Frontier as my next truck. I like that it’s got a basic, proven powertrain. And also that it comes in funky colors.
Yes and no, if my memory on the rules of CAFE servers. The reason companies like GM and Ford moved to a BOF Truck/SUV heavy product mix and away from sedans and cars is that the rules for CAFE are based around GVWR and Wheelbase and Track width. So a larger pickup with a long wheelbase like a Silverado or Suburban is weighted far less severely than a small sedan or coupe. So in order to hit the CAFE regs, there are several ways to get within compliance.
Option one is high-efficiency vehicles, mix in EVs and PHEVs to give you credits and boost the average thanks to a 3-figure MPGe which reduced the weight of big engine performance machines. I consider this to be the GM and Toyota strategy, GM going with an ICE/EV mix to average out, while Toyota goes all-in on hybrid to get every vehicle to help the average.
Option two is to cut small vehicles entirely, and use the CAFE regs as a weapon to build only big trucks and not need as much to bring the average up. This is the Ford strategy, where they have gutted everything small, done some efficiency boosting by going EcoBoost everything, but not downsizing or hybridizing heavily, and doing little for EVs.
The Third strategy is to just pay the fines, wave the flag of freedom, and doom yourself long-term by never developing your product lines. This is of course the “Picture-Above” era Stellantis strategy, and we can all see how well that’s been going for them.
I think Nissan has correctly identified a clever mix of Option One and Two as the best course, pumping out some better hybrids like the Rogue E-Power, but also moving some in-demand and higher margin vehicles to a BOF platform that benefits from a more relaxed CAFE penalty. If Nissan can stick the landing with their promised lineup changes, they could genuinely become a serious player in multiple markets. I’m still skeptical they will execute well enough, but I’m much more optimistic than I was 12 months ago.
This is the same reason why single cab trucks have basically disappeared.
Single cab trucks are almost dead because they do not sell.
They are down to less than 3% of full size truck sales but they still exist because of chassis cabs.
Right, but they were popular for fleet sales.
They are still available for fleets and some fleets still buy them. Just not as many as in the past.
I guess I was mainly referring to compact/midsize trucks. 10 years ago you could by a standard cab Tacoma, Ranger, Colorado, and Canyon. Today those no longer exist, even for fleets.
The Orkin Pest Control fleet used to be exclusively standard cab Rangers.
They no longer exist because they did not sell in enough volume to keep making. They all died when a new generation came out.
Companies had to decided if they were going to spend many millions to design, test and tool a new regular cab. They all decided against it.
Light Truck rules are what got us to where we are today.
To qualify as a light truck a vehicle generally must meet one or more of these criteria:
This is why the PT Cruiser is a light truck.
Something like a PT Cruiser is no longer be classified as a light truck. That changed in 2008:
The qualification rules are here:
eCFR :: 49 CFR 523.5 — Non-passenger automobile.
Anyone else think it’s funny to see the mix of metric and non-metric units in government specifications?
No, I’m used to it. It would be nice if we got with the times and used metric but I don’t see it happening in my lifetime.
This guy eCFR’s.
But also look at the Notification of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) for rules to take effect in 2028, specifically ‘Light Duty Work Factor’ which adds towing capacity requirements in order for a vehicle to classify as a truck. It is going to flip the car/truck product mix on its head (I have more details in a comment elsewhere on this same article).
What should the BOF Nissans and Infinitis be?
Yes an Xterra, but with a price a good bit cheaper than equivalent equipped 4runner/bronco/wrangler.
A Frontier cheaper than a Tacoma. (Do not mess up the current Frontier)
The three row suv could be a Pathfinder like the 3rd gen.
Jebus, it feels like Nissan yo-yo’s back and forth on the pathfinder between unibody car and BOF SUV.