Nissanaddicted wrote: If you need a beta tester for the new trucks, I'd be glad to volunteer.I put 30k a year on my trucks, so i find bugs (if there are any) quickly!!

It sounds like you need to be a Durability Engineer at our Technical Center!! We'll keep you in mind.

When are the new models coming out, my14 or 15?

For one thing, while timing is still to be finalized, the second-generation Titan is likely to appear in U.S. showrooms “early in 2015, probably as a 2016 model,” revealed Joe Castelli, vice president of commercial and fleet vehicle operations for Nissan North America.

Guys,
The questions have slowed and we are about to wind down, so let's use this opportunity to get feedback from you! Believe it or not, we DO USE YOUR COMMENTS when we are discussing things internally.

What is your favorite Frontier/Titan feature? We'd like to know what is the one thing (specific feature or otherwise) that we can't afford to change for the future iterations?

We'll be here for just a few more minutes, but will frequent back to this thread to check-in on your responses. Thanks for your time today.

Rugged dependability. Our Frontier has 113K on the clock and we have had ZERO issues with it. We haul other cars behind it on long trips through the desert, over mountains and it never gets hot, it never balks, it just goes. Whatever you change, make sure that's not it.

The fold flat front seat is my fav. I couldn't drive a frontier without that feature, I would have to go bigger to get the larger console.

Manual transmissions in the Frontier. The world can never have enough manual transmissions.

Nissanaddicted wrote:When are the new models coming out, my14 or 15?

For one thing, while timing is still to be finalized, the second-generation Titan is likely to appear in U.S. showrooms “early in 2015, probably as a 2016 model,” revealed Joe Castelli, vice president of commercial and fleet vehicle operations for Nissan North America.

Umm. Looks like you answered your own question...

I think the mods must have done that!. The answer just appeared in my post.

NissanTruckPlanners wrote:What is your favorite Frontier/Titan feature? We'd like to know what is the one thing (specific feature or otherwise) that we can't afford to change for the future iterations?

Don't let it become a Tacoma.

We've lost the Pathfinder to the mall / spa /day care crowd. The Titan has been so long without an update, it's become invisible. The Hardbody is long gone (which is too bad, because it dominated its segment). The Xterra, while awesome, has a niche and doesn't really cross over into the "truck" demographic.

That leaves the Frontier. Keep the steep approach and departure angles. Keep the aggressive styling. Keep the body-on-frame platform. Keep the high-torque engine. Keep the 6-speed. Give us the damn turbodiesel from the South America market. Build a 2wd / single-cab / manual trans model for those of us who have teenagers. Put a tailgate strut on it, for crying out loud. Tell the guys over in NISMO that stickers and spoilers and wheels don't impress ANYONE. Horsepower, torque, and towing capacity DO. Give it some attitude, because it's the ONLY mid-sized pickup left in the market...

Chris, don't take this the wrong way, but you have the easiest job of ANY Product Planner. There's NO competition. All you have to do is address the differences between the Tacoma and the Frontier... and the automotive press routinely puts the Frontier on top. Pick out those characteristics, and add 10% more of it. Lather, rinse, repeat.

If someone from Nissan proposes anything that deviates from this, smack them. You can tell them it's from me. I'll ridicule them publicly (part of the perks of being an independent source - we can be a cheerleader, or we can be a wrecking ball).

The "focus groups" need to be asked two questions: Do you have $27K in your pocket, and are you planning to buy a truck in the next 6-12 months. If the dweeb in Accounting, or some tie-wearing goob from Corporate has an opinion, he can go home and tell his cats... he's not buying the new truck. WE ARE.

We've already endured the wussification of the Pathfinder and the CrossCabriolet lab experiment. Leave our Frontier alone, or at least make it MORE of a truck.

Thank you guys for agreeing to swim in the shark tank. We're out here taking care of the people who bought the cars and trucks, so you guys can focus on 2014 and beyond. We're excited to see what comes next.

AZhitman wrote:That leaves the Frontier. Keep the steep approach and departure angles. Keep the aggressive styling. Keep the body-on-frame platform. Keep the high-torque engine. Keep the 6-speed. Give us the damn turbodiesel from the South America market. Build a 2wd / single-cab / manual trans model for those of us who have teenagers. Put a tailgate strut on it, for crying out loud. Tell the guys over in NISMO that stickers and spoilers and wheels don't impress ANYONE. Horsepower, torque, and towing capacity DO. Give it some attitude, because it's the ONLY mid-sized pickup left in the market...

Chris, don't take this the wrong way, but you have the easiest job of ANY Product Planner. There's NO competition. All you have to do is address the differences between the Tacoma and the Frontier... and the automotive press routinely puts the Frontier on top. Pick out those characteristics, and add 10% more of it. Lather, rinse, repeat.

THIS.

NOT because I want to give Chris a hard time, but because it so perfectly sums up my NEEDS in a compact truck.

I look at the way Ford managed to SPECTACULARLY drop the ball with the Ranger, how Dodge lost track of what the Dakota was supposed to be, the way GM ruined a good truck with bad powertrain choices in the Colorado, and I wonder how so many automakers can screw up something that's so incredibly simple.

I want a truck that has a boxed ladder frame, TOUGH, DURABLE transmission options that can stand up to hilly towing, good brakes, workhorse axle ratios on limited slip differentials, a gear-driven transfer case, a solid rear axle, and as much torque as I can get. I DON'T need leather, electronic entertainment crap, navigation, colorful interior lighting or stiched dash trim or fifty-two cupholders. Leave that to the F150 showoff crowd. I want a truck for WORK. I want a truck that will keep up with me. I want a truck I can USE without feeling guilty, with confidence that it will do the job dependably.

Configuration options is key. Ford has 100's of combinations, no two trucks are alike and yet the f150 is the top seller every year. I work for a Navistar dealer and no two trucks are the same, they are built to serve the customers, not the bean counters. If all options are on the table then there need to be 100's of configurations to satisfy the guy who hauls horse trailers, the guy who wants a sporty truck, the contractor who needs to install a utility body, the landscaping company that installs a dump body, the list goes on. Trucks don't need leather, they need to work and play and build Nissan's name in quality. In the beginning the Datsun trucks outsold the Datsun cars because people remembered how hard working the Datsun trucks were during the war. The trucks are what got Nissan in the door here in the USA. Sell a good truck and the rest will follow.

Rev_D21 wrote:In the beginning the Datsun trucks outsold the Datsun cars because people remembered how hard working the Datsun trucks were during the war. The trucks are what got Nissan in the door here in the USA. Sell a good truck and the rest will follow.

I fear the heritage and history of Nissan is lost on most of their current staffers. I spoke with a Product Planner who shall remain nameless, who thought the first Datsuns in America were here in '83. I showed him pictures of my 1960 PL312, my '63 PL312, and my '63 NL320... and then told him about Datsun's FIRST cars in the US (1958).

At any rate, Rev is right - The 620 and Hardbody dominated the market at the time, and they're STILL highly sought-after. The Frontier is SO solid, but it has to keep up with the times. I think Nissan can really nail this one, if they don't let the stooges get in the way of continued improvement.

p.s. Hey Chris / Brent - Build the FRITAN. We've seen it, we know how it's put together, it won't require any additional R&D, and it could totally give the Raptor a black eye.

I'm just waiting for the following to happen:

This just in - new NISMO Frontier. Unibody design for enhanced fuel economy, complete with a FWD CVT configuration topped off with a towing capacity of 500 pounds. Stickers? We got that siht too. Available in red, white, and silver so that we can say we're true to the Nissan Motorsport Heritage. Watch this truck debut at the Costco classic - a truck competition that crowns a winner on who can take home the most heads of iceberg lettuce while using the least gas.

Nissan - built for the human race... to the grocery store.

Good, informative discussion here. Thanks guys!

Rev_D21 wrote:Configuration options is key.

I don't normally agree with Rev, but that statement and the rest of his post is solid.

I'm flabbergasted as to why the diesel wasn't even mentioned in this chat... and then see this:

NissanTruckPlanners wrote:Guys,
The questions have slowed and we are about to wind down,

PapaSmurf2k3 wrote:I'm flabbergasted as to why the diesel wasn't even mentioned in this chat... and then see this:

NissanTruckPlanners wrote:Guys,
The questions have slowed and we are about to wind down,

Yeah that's the only reason I read through this whole thing.
I am now dumber

nick1595 wrote: Yeah that's the only reason I read through this whole thing.

Yeah, its quite the gigantic elephant in the room at this point.