New Titan instead?
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heath. . . i tried sending you a pm. . . it wont let me. iv seen the great work you have pioneered with the duramax conversions. how much are you charging? i just sold my GU 4.2 wagon, and im looking round for something. there are a few guiv grenades going cheap as a donor vehicle. . . what am i looking at for a conversioin? 20k? 30k?
whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttt
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Compared to how many shopping trolleys they will sell, they wouldnt waste their time. Trolleys I would guess being 85% (FPOOMA)of the 4wds sold now and gettin worse?heyhey_guess_who said:
its the same thing that killed off the SWB GQ... demand..
As above. I dont think there are too many people here that have any concept of business or what makes a company tick. Caning nissan for moving away from the GU concept (a car that barely anyones buys anymore and gets constantly flogged by the competition) and a texas style pick up truck that would sell one every year...
WHAT! Your kidding yourself, how many people buy 4wds to go shopping? HEAPS! How many people buy dual cabs in a 4wd format to go shopping, drop the kids off to school, work, etc. FARKING HEAPS!
It doesn't look like those Yank PickUps it looks like a Navara on roids! It is not a step away from a dying market it is still alive and well, last year Victorians alone purchased more 4wds and V8s than just about any other year in the last decade or so. Not to mention there is NO competition for this format of vehicle!
It doesn't look like those Yank PickUps it looks like a Navara on roids! It is not a step away from a dying market it is still alive and well, last year Victorians alone purchased more 4wds and V8s than just about any other year in the last decade or so. Not to mention there is NO competition for this format of vehicle!
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yes, Wagons. Shopping mums dont want utes. And V8's are a dying requirement - yor figures show that.heyhey_guess_who said:
Do you think the mighty company that brought us such gems as the 2.8 and ZD30 would have already done the sums on this over the last few years?
The GQ shorty seemed to be selling reasonablly well back in the day, but the cost of it ended up coming near the LWB so even though it was selling, it wasnt enough for Nissan to bother with.
4wds are so far down Nissans list of "must haves" it aint funny. Economical little ****heaps is apparently what we all "WANT".
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This conversation reminds me a little of how USA car companies reponded to Japanase small car, front wheel drive invasion during the 70's
they went from building **** rear wheel drive cars to **** front wheel drive cars
their analyst believed that this is what the public wanted
they went from building **** rear wheel drive cars to **** front wheel drive cars
their analyst believed that this is what the public wanted
I dont believe I am, but perhaps you could send a letter to Nissan Aus and they can discuss the option of a Titan's viability at great length in their next board meeting. Thats assuming the committee of several people that make these decisions, getting payed extremely healthy salaries, didnt give it 2 sec's thought and that was the end. Why...? No one would buy it and making i'll informed decisions would spell the end of car companies. Not disimilar to nissan moving away from old school, live axle 4wd's - no one buys them and to continue down that path would be financial suicide - esp in such a fragile car economy atm.
I know a few people in the car game (my ex use to work for toyota in this area) and the amount of reseach into markets for products, viability, profitability and sustainability is absolutely massive. Its not a matter of 'just bringing a product in' because it looks good, or keeping an old one there (in the case of the GU) because of a minority of people dont like change.
Titan
Nissan were actually looking at this about a year ago (or maybe early this year) in fact. The market they wanted it for though was the mining market as a replacement for F trucks as there is nothing to replace them (well there wasn't then) in terms of towing capacity and general size. Haven't heard a thing for ages so I assume the figures didn't add up and it fell flat on it's bum. They are a good unit but unless they could stick them into the mine people they would never sell enough to justify the RH drive production.
Nissan were actually looking at this about a year ago (or maybe early this year) in fact. The market they wanted it for though was the mining market as a replacement for F trucks as there is nothing to replace them (well there wasn't then) in terms of towing capacity and general size. Haven't heard a thing for ages so I assume the figures didn't add up and it fell flat on it's bum. They are a good unit but unless they could stick them into the mine people they would never sell enough to justify the RH drive production.
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I haven't driven a Titan, but I have driven plenty of other Yank 'SUVs' and 'Pickups' during my time living in USA, and I honestly believe most on this forum would be bitterly dissapointed if they drove any of them. Most Nth American SUVs seem to be aimed at improving winter road (snow and ice) traction, not off-road ability, with some obvious exceptions - ie many Jeep models. Then again, 4WDing in USA is often referred to as 'Jeeping' - I wonder how that came about!
Think of how well one of the worlds best ever selling 4WDs performs in the Australian market - the Ford Explorer... No sooner had Aussies taken it offroad than it developed the nick-name the Exploder... It just wasn't designed for what we expect of a 4WD. Instead, it was designed to accomodate massive butts, ride with cadillac type comfort (think wallowing all over the road for 100m after hitting a pot hole) and enable the average soccer mum to be unphased by a hint of snow - they can just turn a little dial and engage 4WD on the fly.
Landcruiser's sell poorly in USA (too expensive due to all that offroad engineering and not big enough) and Nissan doesn't even try to sell the Patrol. Just another example of the vehicles being designed for a very different purpose.
The Nissan Armada by the way, dwarfs the Pathfinder. It may look similar, but it is comparible in size to a Ford Expedition (Explorer's big brother). If you really want a mega sized American tank, why not look at a Ford Excursion. These things are essentially a wagon varient of the F250. From memory, they were available hopelessly underpowered with about a 5.4 or 5.7L? V8, the 7.3L Powerstroke turbo diesel, and becuase Americans much prefer their gasoline, the favourite powerplant was a (6.8L from memory) V10 petrol. I think they were rated for about 10 or 11K lbs towing, which is just enough for them to tow an adequate sized fuel tanker...
Again, I haven't driven a Titan, but of all of the other large Nth American SUVs / Pickups I have driven, it was pretty obvious that the big engines were a bare necessity to compensate for their overweight construction - I doubt any of them could drag off a Toyota Tarago...
Think of how well one of the worlds best ever selling 4WDs performs in the Australian market - the Ford Explorer... No sooner had Aussies taken it offroad than it developed the nick-name the Exploder... It just wasn't designed for what we expect of a 4WD. Instead, it was designed to accomodate massive butts, ride with cadillac type comfort (think wallowing all over the road for 100m after hitting a pot hole) and enable the average soccer mum to be unphased by a hint of snow - they can just turn a little dial and engage 4WD on the fly.
Landcruiser's sell poorly in USA (too expensive due to all that offroad engineering and not big enough) and Nissan doesn't even try to sell the Patrol. Just another example of the vehicles being designed for a very different purpose.
The Nissan Armada by the way, dwarfs the Pathfinder. It may look similar, but it is comparible in size to a Ford Expedition (Explorer's big brother). If you really want a mega sized American tank, why not look at a Ford Excursion. These things are essentially a wagon varient of the F250. From memory, they were available hopelessly underpowered with about a 5.4 or 5.7L? V8, the 7.3L Powerstroke turbo diesel, and becuase Americans much prefer their gasoline, the favourite powerplant was a (6.8L from memory) V10 petrol. I think they were rated for about 10 or 11K lbs towing, which is just enough for them to tow an adequate sized fuel tanker...
Again, I haven't driven a Titan, but of all of the other large Nth American SUVs / Pickups I have driven, it was pretty obvious that the big engines were a bare necessity to compensate for their overweight construction - I doubt any of them could drag off a Toyota Tarago...
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