Good news, fans of four-wheel-drive Nissans: the Terrano is coming back in one form or another. Nissan unveiled two SUV concepts at Beijing’s Auto China motor show, and one of those is the extremely cool-looking Terrano PHEV Concept.
The important part is that this isn’t just fan service. Nissan will actually build a production version of this truck and sell it. Note that it will be available in select markets, instead of fully global sales, but while it was unveiled in China, it will not remain a specialty for the Chinese market.
I have my fingers crossed that the upcoming new Terrano would actually battle the Land Rover Defender and Toyota Land Cruiser on all of the same markets, but the usage of the word “select” makes me cautious about whether those will include North America or Northern Europe. Still, here’s hoping.
Newsflash: the Terrano nameplate wasn’t sold globally, but in its most original and pure form, we’re talking about the Hardbody-based sports truck that Nissan sold as the Pathfinder in North America in the mid-1980s. The two-door version looked very much like the pickup truck derivative it was, but it also grew rear doors, much in the style of the Chevy Blazer.
The second generation Pathfinder was sold as the Terrano Regulus and also the Infiniti QX4, as it was already fancy enough to make it as a luxurious Infiniti with few changes.
In Europe, Nissan offered a smaller Terrano II, again based on the same structure as the D21 Hardbody truck, but featuring an Italian-designed body from the I.DE.A Institute’s drawing board. Offered with two wheelbase configurations, it was built in Spain and also sold as the Ford Maverick – an interesting instance of the Maverick econocar name being slapped onto a truck, preceding today’s US-market Maverick by decades.
The most recent Pathfinders after the 2001 R51 generation have been unibody crossovers, the latest US-market one being sold from the 2022 model year onwards. The R51 generation Pathfinder was also sold in Europe, and it replaced the Terrano II here and put the Terrano name to rest.
Sharp Retro Design Down To The Wheels
The new Terrano pulls its design inspiration from those aforementioned body-on-frame models and also adds some visual punch that seems to come from the bigger, brawnier Nissan Patrol, with the bold, flared arches and the wing-shaped headlights.
There are little visual tie-ins to the classic Terranos/Pathfinders, and one of them is the inclusion of three illuminated air intakes on the fascia, below the large N I S S A N script that also appears lit.
Another throwback is the ridiculously, immensely cool three-spoke wheels, their design directly lifted from the original Terrano/Pathfinder. It is the same wheel, just with a more modern interpretation, wearing chunky Mickey Thompson off-road tires.
That’s Definitely A Spare Wheel Carrier
In the front is a bull bar with a satin finish, in the back is one of the weirdest-looking spare wheel carriers, even on a concept car level.
The flared rear wheel-arch shape continues all the way to the spare carrier, forming some sort of handle-shaped form that also incorporates the tail lights in the corners, while reminding me of a football helmet’s chin guard. It works, but it’s weird.
The window line’s kick-up comes directly from the European Terrano II, which also did this neat little lift towards the rear side windows. The C-pillars are partially covered by vestigial ladders, which are part of a roof rack that itself covers a sunroof.
The entire truck is at the same its own design, a throwback to Nissan’s ‘80s-‘90s-’00s SUV design, and obviously inspired by today’s Land Rover Defender.
In addition to LED lights integrated within the roof rack, the Terrano also has smaller extra light pods on top of the front fenders. Most details are blocky and matte or satin finished, but the bumper corners and C-pillars feature neat topographical map designs. None of the interior is shown in any of the renders or video, but expect it to feature a design that’s just as blocky as the exterior and you can’t go far wrong.
The promotional material shows the Terrano conquering rocky terrain and dunes alike, with some perfectly acceptable soft and easy-listening metal on the video’s soundtrack.
As even the concept is a plug-in hybrid, the production version, which will be unveiled in a year, will likely also be electrified but not a full EV. No information of the actual powertrain has been released.
Next to the Terrano concept, Nissan showed a swoopy crossover concept called the Urban SUV. It’s also a PHEV, and design-wise, it’s more related to Nissan’s upcoming, Dongfeng-based NX8 that will also be sold in select markets around the world. While the Urban SUV is something that’ll also blend in nicely with Nissan’s Ariya EV, the Terrano’s stand-out design is something enthusiasts are more likely to have been waiting for.
Photos and top graphic image: Nissan
Prediction: this will be lightly restyled for the North American market and badged as the Xterra
Same platform, at least, as the CEO has said there will be 5 vehicles off the BOF platform.
Its probably not going to be the same platform, I think this will be based on the Frontier Pro, not the NA Frontier.
“the pathfinder design”??? Are you sure this isn’t a rebadged GX?
I see parts I like and parts that make me go “thank god that’s a concept and not a production vehicle”. Also, if it wants to give Pathfinder vibes harder, it should have rear door handles at an angle at the back of the window.
It’s weird to me that all the news coming out of Nissan is pretty positive and cool lately. I’m used to it being “Altima driver” and bankruptcy.
That’s a Jetour with Nissan badges
What a strange time we live in. Gasoline approaches $5/gal. The best-selling vehicle in the US gets less than 20mpg. Manufacturers are gambling big money on sales of sub-20mpg SUV. It’s weird.
The F series? , as an average maybe ~20mpg because the F250 will lower the average (17-19mpg). But the F150 will probably get better, 19/26 for the ecoboost or 25/26 for the hybrid. Honestly not bad for a truck compared to 20 years ago.
Ford chooses to lump “F-Series” sales all together for the purposes of sales figures, and I really don’t know the breakdown by models and engines. And yes, some F-150 powertrains get good mpg as compared to years past.
But my point was that manufacturers push 20-25mpg vehicles at a time of high gas prices. And people keep buying gas pigs despite the high cost of operating them. I can’t make sense of that.
“perfectly acceptable soft and easy-listening metal on the video’s soundtrack”
That’s a lot of intro for a song in a one-minute spot, but it is surprisingly robust when it starts to get good. I’m curious about the source to see if it gets better.
Definitely the heaviest accompaniment to an ostensibly commercial commercial since Cadillac used Hum’s “Stars…”
Gimme that old school 2 door.
Take the butch chunky peacocking down a level and I think it will look good. But with the Xterra coming, what are the odds of bringing yet another BOF to the North American market?
PHEV in a vehicle like this is interesting. Even hybridized, I doubt this could get decent fuel economy but having 30+ miles of pure EV range could take a lot of the sting out of fuel costs when used as a daily.
Judging from what little I’ve heard about the Wrangler 4xe, it sounds like once electrons run out you’re not going to see much net gain over a gas model but those 20 miles can bump up the overall average a lot depending.
Probably still a margin of benefit in-town but I imagine highway cruising to be pretty comparable.
I’d love a PHEV, BOF 4Runner/Xterra/Pathfinder/etc. though.
Don’t know I could justify buying one if they showed up a couple years from now and who knows what packaging compromises there may be but I certainly want one.
I kind of like it, but saying that this resembles the older Pathfinder design is really taking some liberties here
It’s like a Pathfinder and a Toyota FJ had a baby.
My immediate reaction was “not Pathfinder, but XTerra.” It even has “Terra” in the name.
I like it. I’m sure it will have too many electronic doo-dads to break, but that’s all modern cars. Growing up in the 80s, Nissan was my favorite. My older brother bought the original 2 door PF that ignited my love for the brand. I went through two hardbodies (2 and 4WD), three PF’s (2 second gens then the lovely VQ with a rarer then rare manual), and finally a 1st gen Titan. I finally went 5th gen 4runner as its archaic architecture appealed to me. I’m still a sucker for those lego wheels though.
Wasn’t R51 Pathfinder launched in 2004 as 2005 model? Just saying because I had a 05 which I always thought to be a first year model.
Also, if I am not wrong, R50 was unibody, but then they decided to go back to body-on-frame for R51. Just Nissan being Nissan I think.
That was a weird time. Going BoF -> unibody -> BoF -> unibody in four successive generations of the Pathfinder was weird (and probably showed Nissan didn’t know what they had).
There are already at least 3 Chinese vehicles that look very similar to that. Then you get the Indian and other Japanese brands that have models that don’t look so different. Unless there is some magic love for Nissan somewhere they haven’t pissed away. Or they can be cheaper then the Chinese I don’t see it working but it’s neat I guess.
Nissan, Scout, Hyundai, Ineos, Land Rover, Lexus, Toyota, Jeep, and Ford.
I might be forgetting a few more?
This market will surely be over saturated. Everyone thinks they are going to get 50-100,000 units to make their economics work, but I don’t see how that is going to be possible without a ton of conquests from the RAV4-class of buyer.
That was my thought. Looks like a good possible contender if they don’t hobble it with a shitty drivetrain and if they undercut the competitors to get people to suffer a Nissan dealer, but it’s a finite market with a lot of players in or coming in and I don’t see many unibody conquests to expand it. The people buying CUVs aren’t nearly as interested in real off roading or cosplay of such and prefer the better NVH characteristics, ride, and mileage of the unibody. If they wanted BoF, they’d likely buy one. For the cosplay people or, to be less insulting, those who like the looks and want a little bit of extended capability, the largely derided off road appearance packages, like Subaru’s Wilderness or Ford’s . . . Tremor? whatever it is, have them covered while retaining unibody advantages for the 99.9% of driving they do on road. As much as enthusiasts laugh, I see a lot of Wilderness package Subarus and those are high margins for the manufacturer and the upcharge means the people buying them likely could afford a BoF, but didn’t choose one.
It is and Nissan is planning to launch 4 new BoF SUVs by the end of the decade in addition to their current lineup. This 3 row, the Xterra and then an Infinity version of each. With a non-hybrid V6 so the fuel economy will low too.
Nissan Exec said the BoF platform would be hybrid capable so they could add a hybrid V6 IF there was an administration change that required it.
I”m not seeing any resemblance to any previous Pathfinder – much less anything “retro”
It looks more like a Toyota Prado/LandCruiser/Land Rover Defender knockoff to me.
“…down to the wheels”
They’re black. Can’t see the details. Might as well be steelies. Why bother?
The C-pillars are partially covered by vestigial ladders, which are part of a roof rack that itself covers a sunroof
I believe the design and engineering professionals within the industry refer to these as “widdew wadders”.
Often seen on the 4Wunna TRD-Pwo
She’s a mighty fine specimen. Those cowards at corporate need to bring this to the states. Also, they need to bring back the Silvia/240SX while we’re at it.
I really like this a lot. Why can’t Nissan bring a PHEV like this to the US? Others have had them for YEARS.
In no particular order:
No chance Nissan noticed the love for the new Land Cruiser and followed suit, nope, no way…
I really like this, but that bar around the spare tire is terrible. It adds visual bulk that’s completely unnecessary.
The whole rear-mounted tire seems archaic. Putting the spare tire out into the elements, means it ages faster than inside the hatch (and means a separate structure to support it, and swing space, if you want to open the rear).
Counterpoint, I love the additional interior space and definitely love actually having a full size spare tire on board…
…and makes it easier to steal.
“I’m right here – Come take me!”
It helps lower the load floor height, which not only makes it easier to load, but gives more interior volume under the roof.
I looked at the 4Runner at the auto show recently, and they had a hybrid model there. Between the spare under the car, the suspension, and the hybrid battery volume, it felt like the cargo floor was near my armpits. Not actually there, but I measured 37” from the ground. That’s nuts.
What it needs is a mini-spare under the hood on top of the engine and and can of Fix-A-Flat in the tool box.
Problem solved!
I like the exterior-mounted spare for the reason that it is in the elements. It makes it more obvious that your Spare also ages and needs to replaced occasionally.
When they are out-of-sight and out-of-mind it is easy to end up with a 15-year old spare that crumbles when you need to use it.
… and is flat because it was never aired up
Found that out the hard way when I had a flat in my van and the space saver spare that was supposed to be at 60 psi was at 25 psi. So I got to limp the van 15 miles back to pavement on a spare that was the correct diameter but 1/2 the width.
and that’s more real estate to trap dirt and salt
This is called INNOVATION: it’s the first face-level bumper!
This looks like an Armada/Patrol got the Defender treatment, and I LIKE it. Especially the hybrid setup.
The “Urban SUV” looks interested. I’m not in the market for a “image focused” SUV – which was Ponz Pandikuthira’s discription of the new BoF Xterra and BoF Pathfinder (that will not be called a Pathfinder.)
When I look at the current Ford Bronco, I see the heritage and retro design cues for the modern world. Some illuminated rectangles and wheels that resemble the 1980’s if you squint hard don’t really get me there. The 2-door Hardbody Pathfinder excites me more.
Too bad we never got that 90s Terrano II over here 🙁
Nissan is really on a roll.
Everything they have shown in recent years, including their production models, has really been quite good. This off-road truck is no different.