Nissan recently filed to trademark the Nissan Xterra name in the United States, suggesting that an off-road-oriented crossover or SUV may be in the works. The Xterra has been off the market since it was discontinued in 2015, and this trademark filing could be a sign that Nissan is about to get more serious about its lineup of off-road-ready offerings.
A new Nissan Xterra would presumably compete with body-on-frame off-roaders like the Jeep Wrangler, Ford Bronco, and Toyota 4Runner, a small class that GM doesn’t play in. GM’s only body-on-frame SUV offerings in the U.S. are the ones that ride on the full-size T1 platform, namely the Chevy Tahoe and Suburban, GMC Yukon, and Cadillac Escalade.
Another possibility for a future Nissan Xterra is a Nissan version of the recently redesigned Honda Passport. The Passport is a unibody midsize crossover, but it has a new focus on off-road capability. In addition to a rugged new look that deviates from more mainstream Honda crossovers like the Pilot and CR-V, the 2026 Passport has torque-vectoring AWD, “trail-ready” suspension, 8.3 inches of ground clearance, and available features like the TrailWatch camera system. With the Honda/Nissan/Mitsubishi merger moving forward, a Passport-based Xterra could be one of the first Honda/Nissan collaborations to arrive on the U.S. market.
Meanwhile, the closest thing GM has to a dedicated off-road model is the GMC Hummer EV. Of course, there are hardcore off-road variants like the ZR2 versions of Chevy trucks and AT4X versions of GMC trucks, but those are trims of existing models rather than models designed from the ground up with a primary focus on off-road capability.
If a next-gen Nissan Xterra is what we think it is, it will have no direct GM rival when it comes to market. In the meantime, Nissan is beefing up the off-road chops of its U.S. lineup with the first-ever Nissan Armada PRO-4X and a Rock Creek version of the Rogue. GM continues to expand subbrands like Z71 and AT4, but there don’t appear to be any dedicated off-road models in The General’s near future.
Comments
Should be better value for money than the 4runner, especially the the Frontier 3.8 V6…
Still want to see a beefy H3 EV to compete in this segment. Hummer EV is a flop and needs to scale down to a lesser market.
I have a 2015 Xterra Pro4-x that I bought when I found they were being discontinued. It is a simple, tough rugged, real body on frame 4×4. Nothing goes wrong with it and it was relatively inexpensive to buy. I have just traded my 2021 Sierra AT4 in on a new Frontier Pro4-x . I loved the big GMC but found it far too large at this stage of my life. The new Frontier is old school enough for me with a V6, body on frame and buttons for a lot of normal functions. I looked at the GM midsized trucks as well as the Toyota but they were considerably more money and all had turbo fours. I am sure the Frontier will give me great service as has the Xterra. Hopefully Nissan will produce a new Xterra based on the Frontier .
Of course GM doesn’t have a competitor.
Mary Mediocrity Barra won’t allow it.
There is a limited market for this kind of product and there is a strong competition already.
Why blame Mary for not making a decision which doesn’t make business sense. GM doesn’t need to compete in niche products, it has to make money for the shareholders and stay profitable.
I blame both, Mary and the general public. Demand for faux utility vehicles has over taken ladder frame SUV’s just like why GM and Ford refuse to build rear drive cars, front drive cars over took over rear drive cars due to maintenance costs and roominess. Which I really find hard to believe
GM, put the Jimmy back into development. Get more use out of the 31XX-2 platform! Even if its a Hybrid.
Maybe GM needs to develop a Jeep Wrangler competitor with a lower price point. That would be a great vehicle for those turbo 4 cylinder engines developed for trucks that the majority of GM buyers are afraid of or do not want. Though, Jeep might be for sale in the near future if those wine-drinking cheese-eating surrender monkeys do not turn that company around.
A Wrangler fighter when sales are slowing and the Bronco is declining, yeah, great idea! I said it when the Blazer came out, the Bronco and the Gladiator, those last two are niche vehicles many think they want and realize shortly after they don’t when it is just a DD which they are horrible at and why the Blazer has reviewed well and has a lower turn over. People buy the Bronco and Wrangler because they think it looks cool, but they stink as a DD which most buy them for. They are great off road, but something like 20% actually take them off road, so a year or two or three later they realize they had the ride, noise, sight lines, mpg, power, NVH, etc of them and trade them in as they don’t take them off road. A Bronco/Wrangler fighter was a short time news maker and long time money loss, not the smart move and really glad they didn’t make it. Gladiator sales stink if you haven’t noticed, they would have done better using the platform for a Dakota revival. So no, please don’t make the fail of a Wrangler fighter. And yes, the ZR2 was the proper choice versus the one trick pony Raptor fighter as that market was saturated and the ZR2 out performs it off road (except in the desert) and at truck duties (though it still lacks at those with the payload and towing numbers that soft suspension has), and people like you were all up in arms the ZR2 wasn’t a direct Raptor competitor, they made the right more. That ZR2 is more profitable than the special nugget of a Raptor and what it needs….
As far as the engines, people like smaller turbo engines as they make better power where they need it. The Silverado turbo is selling great, and it is the most reliable engine they make. The turbo Traverse is selling strong (along with its mates) and the engine reviews well outside of the noise (it gets better mpg and drives much better not needing to downshift at a hill or headwind). Everyone is heading that direction, get used to it.
Sorry to say, you really missed the point you were trying to make and it is a good thing they aren’t listening to people who think like you, as GM might then be for sale from dwindling sales while a few cars make news worthy praises for a small group of car guys…
Hope it’s RWD based, with a longitudinal V-6.
We need an H3 EV imo.