Chart Of The Day: 11 Years Of Nissan Titan Market Share
Nissan USA announced on December 16, 2014, that the next Titan, the second Titan, the first all-new Titan since 2003, will be introduced at 2015’s NAIAS in Detroit on January 12, 2015.
Hardly altered since the production truck arrived for the 2004 model year, the Titan is now somewhat embarrassing. Yet while the truck never had the potential to tackle full-size pickup trucks from Ford, General Motors, and Ram – Toyota can’t either – in the same way Nissan’s Altima can outsell their midsize sedans and Nissan’s Versa their subcompacts, initial U.S. volume was respectable.
This chart shows the first-generation Nissan Titan’s market share in America’s full-size truck segment over the first eleven years of its tenure. Without heavy-duty versions, countless engine options, and myriad trim lines, the Titan was at a disadvantage before one even takes into consideration the loyalty engendered by Detroit’s massive truck lines. But when Nissan was grabbing 3% of the full-size truck market as recently as 2007, we would have guessed that they were primed to interpret that as either a reason to give up or a reason to put up a fight. They are putting up a fight, but not until next year, six years after their market share fell below 2%.
Another truck making its debut in Detroit? The Toyota Tacoma, which this year sells 12 times more often than the Titan.
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures.
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It's truly a shame the Titan has been left to rot on the vine. It remains one of the ore decently styled trucks.
I had an 08 titan crew cab long bed LE. It was a helluva truck. Cowboy Cadillac for sure. At the time I just couldn't quite comfigure a ford, gm, or Toyota exactly right.
I suspect that the high gasoline prices of the summer of 2008 greatly hurt sales of a vehicle that gets 13 mpg city. Doesn't look like Titan sales ever recovered after that price spike. Not offering a Titan work truck to go with Nissan NV cargo van is an unforced error. A fleet manager that has deal with both vans and pickup trucks would love to only stock parts for one brand vs. two. Just put the regular cab long bed body configuration on the existing frame, use the 4 liter V6 from the Frontier, and paint it refrigerator white. With trucks, the plain work version doesn't cheapen the higher trim levels. Instead, work trucks help make the expensive versions plausibly authentic.
If Nissan made a true compact size pickup and priced it below the current midsize trucks (Tacoma, Frontier, and Colorado/Canyon) it would not be a flop. Nissan would have to keep the options simple and limit it to two body styles, extended cab and crew cab, and no more than two bed sizes. There is nothing currently on the market that is the size of a compact pickup of the prior Ranger. Nissan would have to share a platform and parts with an existing vehicle. Don't design this truck to compete on towing or hauling capacity but make it very affordable and very economical. Don't even offer a V-6. Produce this new truck in Mexico and call it a Datsun. Many who buy and drive older compact trucks do so because the newer trucks are too big and not fuel efficient. Price this truck starting at 16k and keep the price to no more than 24k. Fleet operators would definitely buy a smaller and reasonably priced trucks and many would buy it as a second or third vehicle. Sharing platforms and parts would lower the volume for making a profit. I would definitely buy one. As for the Titan if Nissan does what they say they are going to do with the Cummins diesel then they might actually have a truck that would sell well enough to gain a little more market share and still make a profit. Don't try to compete against Ford, GM, and Ram just make a better product. I seriously doubt Toyota or Nissan are losing money on their trucks, they are just not making the amount of profit that the Big 3 truck makers are making on them and they are not as dependent on trucks for their overall profitability. The fact is Nissan is not pulling out of the truck market and has nothing to lose by trying products that the Big 3 will not try because Nissan does not make most of their profits from one product as Ford does from the F series trucks. Ford does not want to produce a smaller truck that would compete against the F-150 because F-150 is their Number 1 seller.