Nissan Will Go It Alone On Titan Pickup Replacement

Before Chrysler was ever involved in alliance dealings with Fiat, the Auburn Hills-based automaker was already tied with Nissan over several platform swapping and production sharing deals.

One of these was to sell rebadged versions of the Ram pickup as a replacement for Nissan’s own Titan, but last summer Chrysler decided to back out of the deal, making the future of the full-size Nissan pickup look bleak.

Then, last November, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn offered some solace by confirming that the Titan pickup would survive, with or without a partner. This was backed by earlier comments from Nissan’s U.S. sales chief, Brian Carolin, who said that work on a replacement for the Titan was progressing and its final styling had already been signed off.

According to a new report, Nissan will keep building the current Titan at its Canton plant in Mississippi until a replacement vehicle can be fully developed. The information was revealed by Nissan spokesman Scott Vazin who told USA Today that the automaker was “pretty much going it alone” in developing a replacement for the Titan.

Currently, the Nissan Titan is performing poorly against strong competitors like the Ram pickup and GM’s offerings. Nevertheless, launching a new Titan will almost certainly help Nissan in the long-term and perhaps allow it to pick up sales in 2011 when the new pickup is expected to hit dealerships.

[USA Today]