Home » Nissan Will Try To Pull Itself From A Deep Pit Of Mediocrity With Seven New Vehicles Including A New Truck

Nissan Will Try To Pull Itself From A Deep Pit Of Mediocrity With Seven New Vehicles Including A New Truck

Mitsubishi 1 Ton Tmd Ts
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Nissan! As an automaker, it hasn’t particularly impressed anyone lately. Its one big move in the United States has been to make a relatively affordable, mostly acceptable crossover, the Rogue. Then it built too many of them and its dealers got mad. Now Nissan has a new plan to fix itself that involves cheap EVs, seven new models for the USA and Canada, and… a 1-ton pickup truck? What?

It was revealed in a lawsuit last week that automakers have been selling data on how you drive to third-party companies who then, in turn, sell it to insurers. This sucks, though anyone with a “connected car” I’m sure immediately engaged their shoulders in an unbaffled shrug as, of course, this was what was going to happen. At least one automaker sees that the negative press is not worth it.

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Lucid, the electric car company known for its high-quality EVs, is continuing its side business of burning through billions of dollars from the coffers of Saudi Arabia. Lucky! And, finally, you’re less lucky if you’re a Stellantis engineer and got the boot last week as the company fired hundreds of engineers.

Happy Monday! It’s TMD time.

What’s Going On With Nissan?

Mitsu L200

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You can definitely have too much of a good thing, but Nissan has gone out of its way to prove you can have too much of a mid thing. The Nissan Rogue is fine. It’s fine!

But it’s one of the few products that Nissan makes that is truly desirable, and it’s mostly desirable because of price, and Nissan has been building too many and dumping them on dealers and rental fleets, further driving down the value.

Now that Nissan has semi-handled its trial separation with Renault, the company is trying to fix its many many problems in the United States and globally. This plan is called “ARC” and you can download the whole presentation if you want, but the big things are: more and cheaper EVs, better manufacturing, a lot more cars.

Basically, Nissan is going to try to be a real car company again, for roughly the 12th time.

Here’s the key bit for us:

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Americas:

  • Increase across-region sales by 330,000 units (in fiscal year 2026 and compared to fiscal year 2023) and invest 200 million USD in integrated customer experience in the U.S.
  • In the U.S. and Canada: Launch seven all-new models
  • In the U.S.: Refresh 78% of passenger vehicle line-up for Nissan brand and launch e-POWER and plug-in hybrid models

The plug-in hybrids thing is great news, as is the seven all-new models. If you’re a beleaguered dealer, the increase in sales and investment in an “integrated customer experience” is also possibly music to your ears.

There’s also this:

Nissan Slide Screenshot

What?

What is a “next gen 1-ton pickup produced in MEX” supposed to be? This is confusing, because in the United States a 1-ton pickup would be something along the lines of a Ford F-350 or a Silverado 3500. But a 1-ton truck in the metric world would be the Mitsubishi Triton, which isn’t sold here in the United States, but is sold in Mexico as the L200.

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The American Nissan Frontier is related to the global Nissan Navara truck, which isn’t related to the old Mitsubishi L200 currently sold in Mexico, which is a pre-merger platform. The new Navara and Triton/L200 will be co-developed by Nissan and Mitsubishi.

After polling The Autopian Slack, my guess is that’s what this is and, while it’s certainly due for Mexico, it also makes sense as a replacement for the also-ran Nissan Frontier since it’s also Navara-based. Or, maybe, Mitsubishi and Nissan will revert to old habits and develop their own things? It’ll be fun to find out in a couple of years.

All of this is good news. We’ve been hard on Nissan lately, but the brand has historically made some beloved cars and has served the lower end of the market with increasingly not-bad cars. Mitsubishi, also, has quietly been selling a decent number of cheap PHEVs in the United States.

A reinvigorated Nissan with a mix of compelling hybrids and other vehicles is good for both enthusiasts and consumers.

GM To Stop Doing ‘Standard Rotten Thing’ By Cutting Ties With Data Firms: Expert

Drivescroebs TopI worked on a mayoral campaign in Houston many years back for a City Councilman named Peter Brown (RIP). He was an architect and a Smart Car enthusiast.

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It was a weird campaign and the candidate, via a staffer, had a connection with Houston area rapper Trae Tha Truth, who was hosting an annual school block party and supply drive called “Trae Day.” Our candidate went, and handed out school supplies, and that was that.

And then there was a shooting. Eight people were shot, though no one was seriously injured. This was an awful moment, though the Councilman had already left. And then Chamillionaire, best known for his song “Ridin’” tweeted this out:

We were probably going to lose the campaign as the other candidates were stronger, but I’ll never forget how hard that “not a good look” from Chamillionaire hit. I think about “not a good look” at least once a week.

We wrote last week about how GM was sharing data with insurance companies via third-party data firms. This sucks and is also “not a good look.”

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GM says it’s not doing it anymore, according to the Detroit Free Press:

On Friday, GM spokesman Kevin Kelly declined to comment on the lawsuit, but he sent the Detroit Free Press the following statement: “As of March 20th, OnStar Smart Driver customer data is no longer being shared with LexisNexis or Verisk. Customer trust is a priority for us, and we are actively evaluating our privacy processes and policies.”

Good on GM and I hope everyone else follows, but this isn’t just a GM problem as everyone does it, as a law professor pointed out in the same article:

He believes this case will be settled, but if it proceeds to trial and the plaintiff wins, “there will be a rash of lawsuits” against automakers and others.

[…]

“What GM is doing here is the standard rotten thing that most companies do and that the government should step in and protect us against,” said Gordon.

I love “standard rotten thing.” Maybe that’ll replace “not a good look” in my brain.

Lucid Takes More Saudi Money

Lucid Air Charging

Props to Lucid, I guess, for hooking up with the Saudi Public Investment Fund. It was probably inevitable that Saudi Arabia would try to diversify into EVs and by being that company, Lucid gets to smooth over the rough EV transition a bit by having access to billions in investment.

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And now, according to Reuters, it’s getting a little more:

Ayar Third Investment Company, a PIF affiliate, will buy $1 billion in convertible preferred stock and will be able to convert the preferred stock into about 280 million shares, according to a regulatory filing with the U.S. securities regulator.

The California-based company, which has been facing weaker-than-expected demand, said it intends to use the proceeds for corporate purposes and capital expenditure among other things.

I hope “among other things” includes a new smoothie maker for the corporate offices. Those folks are working hard. They deserve a treat.

Stellantis Lays Of Hundreds Of Engineers, Allegedly Via Conference Call

Devil Lovitz Tavares

It was announced last week that Stellantis was laying off about 400 employees in its engineering and software divisions, as the company tries to maximize profits while also investing in an EV future.

Here’s the Stellantis comment from The Detroit News:

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“As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure,” a statement sent Friday by Stellantis spokesperson Jodi Tinson said.

The statement added those laid off would get a “comprehensive separation package and transition assistance.” A number of the affected employees were notified of the cuts Friday morning.

Happy Easter! But wait, there’s more:

It sounds like the company told everyone to do a “mandatory work day” and then attend a remote meeting, which was to announce that everyone on the call was getting laid off.

That’s the way they do it these days.

What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD

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I had to get TMD done today but my parents were visiting and so I set my daughter and dad loose to build a Lego space rover. While this was going on, I heard my dad start to tell a story about delivering electric supplies to the Navy base in Corpus Christi, Texas on Fridays and seeing the great Tejano artist Freddy Fender waxing his ’57 Chevy on his big house on Ocean Drive. I loved that story and, for whatever reason, it really connected with my daughter. So here’s some Freddy Fender for you. Right in the feels.

The Big Question

Looking at Nissan-Mitsubishi’s global footprint, what would you like to see here in the United States? What are the 7 new vehicles that make sense?

 

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Joe The Drummer
Joe The Drummer
6 months ago

I’m just here to compliment your choice of soundtrack today. Well done.

I guess I’m also here to say that I really hope that Nissan, many of whose cars I’ve owned or admired over the years, will find its feet and figure out how to not suck.

Vic Vinegar
Vic Vinegar
6 months ago

Nissan needs to consider itself more of a Hyundai competitor than a Toyota or Honda competitor. Big warranty, a bit cheaper than everyone else but with more features.

Get customers to consider you for more reasons than your dealers have access to subprime lending.

Alec Harvey
Alec Harvey
6 months ago

I really hope the next gen Navara is better looking than the Triton. I saw the Triton at the Brisbane 4×4 show last week, its an ugly truck. The current Nav is pretty good looking, so hopefully the next one will look good too. Really would love to see a petrol engine option too. And please keep the coil rear suspension too!

Last edited 6 months ago by Alec Harvey
Andy Individual
Andy Individual
6 months ago

When I was a kid, we used to have an epic tobogganing hill. Then the geniuses entrusted to public infrastructure erected a chain link fence at the bottom. The first kid I witnessed who hit that fence ended up with a face that looked exactly like the front end of every pickup truck these days. Even after the stitches were removed. Well Nissan, welcome to the fence plant club.

OrigamiSensei
OrigamiSensei
6 months ago

What Nissan needs:
1) PHEV and/or pure EV Rogue – take what you need from Mitsubishi and take advantage of the popularity of the Rogue
2) A proper low-end EV to replace the Leaf – no more air-cooled batteries and crappy charging standards
3) Some solid entries into the EV market to compete with the Hyundai/Kia offerings
4) A proper mid-size pickup to compete with the Tacoma. I think the full-size market will be too much to tackle but a spiritual successor to the Hardbody would make sense.
5) A butched-up Rogue-class competitor to the Bronco Sport
6) A non-crap Pathfinder / competitor to the Highlander and such
7) A spiritual successor to the Xterra

Jaroslaw Kusz
Jaroslaw Kusz
6 months ago
Reply to  OrigamiSensei

Xterra is so underrated. It’s an Off-Road beast.

James Carson
James Carson
6 months ago

Stellantis and Nissan can dry up and blow away like dust IMO. Nothing in either of their product lines is worth considering.

Alex Bessinger
Alex Bessinger
6 months ago

Nissan was an early mover in the world of EVs with the LEAF, which started deliveries in 2010 in Japan, and expanded to the rest of the world in 2011. In fact, it was the worlds best selling EV all the way until 2020, when it was finally eclipsed by the Tesla Model 3.

Unfortunately, Nissan has effectively let the LEAF “die on the vine” like they seem to do with so many other cars… The LEAF had it’s inherent flaws, and “quirks”. Thanks to a lack of thermal management for the batteries, they tend to have a decreased lifespan compared to other EVs (particularly so on earlier models). This has been a known issue basically since 2012, and although they made improvements to the battery chemistry to counteract that, they still haven’t ever implemented cooling, which makes the car slow to charge, and all but un-usable for road trips, especially during the summer as the battery overheats. They’ve also stuck with CHAdeMO, as opposed to updating it with CCS to meet the majority of infrastructure that is in place in the places where the most of them are sold. Granted, due to the battery issues, nobody is really road-tripping LEAFs, but it would be nice if you could actually use most fast charging stations…

It sounds at this point as though Nissan unlikely to continue producing the LEAF beyond this year, but if Nissan could come up with an “all new”, super affordable LEAF (or at least a spiritual successor), with decent range and charging speeds, they could take a pretty big market share when it comes to affordable EVs. Sub $25k would be good, but if they could do something sub $20k EV with close to 200mi of range, that would be a game changer. However, unless they already have plans in motion, it might be too late…

Right now, it seems like here in the U.S., and in Europe, it’s going to be a race against the Chinese to come up with affordable EVs for everyday folks. In Europe, Chinese EVs are already making big inroads. There’s talk of BYD opening a factory in Mexico to build EVs, which if that happens, could lead to them having the potential to flood the U.S. market with competitive EVs at compelling prices.

Last edited 6 months ago by Alex Bessinger
Slow Joe Crow
Slow Joe Crow
6 months ago

For sheer weird I’d like to see a Nissan UrVan here as an alternative to grey market HiAces and as a Sprinter alternative. Also a Nissan Patrol and a moder Leaf with liquid cooled batteries and an NACS plug

Huja Shaw
Huja Shaw
6 months ago

A few of the new Nissan cars names have already leaked . . .

Milq Tow ST (mild hybrid with high towing capacity)

O-Kei (small, affordable EV with retro styling)

Truckasaurus MEX (2 ton truck)

Wazzit (AI-generated name)

Davey
Davey
6 months ago

In Canada, Mitsubishi has the best warranty: something other automakers really need to increase if they want to justify the increased costs of vehicles these days. I’d love if they offered a small maverick-sized truck and tossed in their PHEV system.

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