New 2016 Nissan Titan to Start Just Over $40,000

The new 2016 Nissan Titan XD will debut at a starting price of $40,290, the maker announced this afternoon, with a fully loaded Platinum Reserve model pushing the sticker price up to $62,710.

Nissan is betting big on the launch of the new Titan XD. It marks the first remake of the Japanese automaker’s full-size pickup in a decade, and brings with it Nissan’s first U.S. diesel powertrain. The XD is the heavier-duty version of the Titan, with a standard ¾-ton truck set to follow next year.

“Titan XD represents a unique proposition in the marketplace,” said Fred Diaz, Nissan’s head of sales and marketing in the U.S., “as the truck stands at what we feel is the perfect midpoint in terms of size, price and capability between ½ ton and ¾ ton trucks, thus meeting a previously unmet customer need.”

(Click Here for a review of the new 2016 Nissan Titan XD.)

When it made its original debut back in 2003, Nissan’s first full-size pickup seemed poised to make a serious dent in a segment long dominated by Detroit, but it never quite lived up to expectations. And despite sluggish sales, the Japanese maker repeatedly delayed the roll-out of a replacement model – in part due to the collapse of a planned joint venture that would have had it market a modified version of Fiat Chrysler’s Ram 1500.

Instead, Nissan has gone it alone with a complete remake of the pickup. And it is offering the truck in two distinct versions, the standard-duty 2016 Nissan Titan and the more robust Titan XD, a sort of tweener that falls between the likes of the Ram 1500 and heavy-duty 2500.

(2016 Nissan Titan named the “Truck of Texas.” Click Here for the full story.)

For its launch this month, Nissan is putting the emphasis on the stump-pulling Cummins turbodiesel engine, which churns out 310 horsepower and a hefty 555 pound-feet of torque. That’s enough, Nissan claims, to tow 12,300 pounds and carry a 2,100-pound payload.

But even with the better mileage and heftier load capabilities of a diesel, Nissan expects a large number of potential buyers will want a more conventional gasoline engine. So, it will add the new 5.6-liter Endurance V-8 next spring. That powertrain makes 390, compared to 317 with the old Titan V-8. Torque climbs from 385 to 401 pound-feet, meanwhile.

Nissan has not yet released fuel economy numbers for any of the new Titan models. But it today released pricing for the XD line. The base S model Crew Cab, with a short wheelbase and 4×2 powertrain will start at $40,290. The fully loaded Titan XD Platinum Reserve 4×4 with rear DVD entertainment package will bump that number up to $62,710. Add $1,195 delivery charges for all models.

The diesel Nissan Titan XD model in Crew Cab configuration will be first to launch. Ultimately, the maker says, the pickup “will be offered in three cab configurations, two frame sizes, three powertrain offerings and five grade levels.”

(For more on the Titan’s new Endurance V-8, Click Here.)