The Nissan Frontier made waves when the truck finally received its redesign several years ago. The Frontier promised to bring new styling, technology, and performance to the truck but while it’s an improvement over its ancient predecessor, the truck has not exactly been a sales darling, with the truck still being outsold by rivals like the Chevrolet Colorado and the benchmark Toyota Tacoma.
However, a new report appears to confirm Nissan is preparing to leap into the growing PHEV truck market and is planning a plug-in hybrid version to boldly go where few trucks in the U.S. have gone before.
Frontier PHEV would allow Nissan to enter new market
PHEV versions of pickups are not new with companies like Chinese firm BYD releasing a plug-in hybrid version of its Shark pickup. However, hybrid pickups are just beginning to enter the U.S. with Ford, Ram, and Toyota all offering hybrid versions of their pickups. Nissan needs sales and the last thing the struggling company would want to see is for it to fall behind by not offering an entry of their own.
In a recent interview with Motor Trend, Nissan’s Chief Planning Officer for the Americas, Ponz Pandikuthira, explained that electrifying the Frontier is crucial for its future. According to Pandikuthira, for the Frontier to stay relevant and meet emissions standards, a hybrid powertrain will be necessary. He elaborated further stating that a plug-in hybrid would make most sense “to keep that full spectrum of use,” ensuring it can be driven around town, retain a good towing capacity, good fuel consumption, and still have the ruggedness of a traditional body-on-frame combustion pickup.
The exec shared no further details about what kind of powertrain will underpin the Frontier PHEV but with the firm already working on a PHEV version of the Rogue, look for the CUV’s powerplant to be transplanted into the Frontier to cut down on development time and costs. A PHEV version would also give Nissan an edge in the U.S. market with this Frontier variant possibly being the very first mid-size PHEV truck to go on sale in the U.S. a feat which would give the Japanese auto giant much needed good publicity.
When is it coming?
While a PHEV version of the Frontier does sound like a very tempting purchase, buyers interested in one will have to wait a while for a potential chance to get one with Pandikuthira stating that it’s using the 2028 model year as a target date with the truck possibly taking even longer to go through all the stages of development.
In the meantime, the company is also exploring the idea of merging the Frontier and the international market-only Navara pickup into a single model which would help consolidate resources. The newly merged model would be built on a new platform which would be built from the ground up to be a true global underpinning with the truck getting several different powertrains including hybrid engines to help it reach customers in markets where tightening emissions standards are putting the squeeze on many vehicles including pickup trucks.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.