Will the Honda/Nissan Possible Merger Save the Frontier and/or Titan?

[ThundahBeagle]

That’s exactly the challenge with trying to sell enough of the “mid sized” trucks to keep them in your market lineup (really, only the Maverick can truly be thought of as a ‘small’ anymore)…it basically seems to be a hearts over minds market.

The MS trucks may feel easier (and more fun) to drive and easier to park.

But price/mileage/capacity seem to clearly argue in favor of the FS 1/2 tons being the more rational choice.

Somewhere else on the forum I posted pics of dimensions of GMT-400 pickups vs the Colorado, and they are strikingly similar. The v6 Colorado does not get much better fuel economy than my 5.3 liter AFM/DFM Sierra.

Seems the only 4 cylinder Colorado I can get now is a turbo, and I can't get a stick shift.

IF, if Honda/Nissan produces a small, stripped down but capable 4x4 pickup with a 4 cylinder and  maybe even a manual transmission, and priced it super inexpensive, they would fly off the shelves. But they would have to be inexpensive. Low $, solid little trucks. Like the size of the little Nissan trucks from the 80' and 90's. Simple. Big they are inexpensive enough. People would but them even without all the bells and whistles.

 

[plh]

I wonder if there's some Japanese business courtesy going on here, if that's even still a thing. At one time businesses would look out for each other (such as when Toyota invested in Subaru, which has only yielded a couple of niche vehicles for them) rather than the U.S. version of cut throat competition.

The upside for Honda is gaining U.S. production and real trucks. Remember that Nissan is the 3rd leg of a stool with Mitsubishi and Renault. Thinking here global more than just just North America.

I would imagine that adding Honda to that group might help competing with VW, Toyota, GM, Ford. As it is Honda was having their Prologue EV made by GM. Whether that was strategic not to invest R&D or lack of capability maybe they're not keen to help keep GM afloat.

That 3 way alliance is also pretty shaky. At one point Nissan owned 34% of Mitsubishi, that stake has fallen to 23%

 

[ThundahBeagle]

That 3 way alliance is also pretty shaky. At one point Nissan owned 34% of Mitsubishi, that stake has fallen to 23%

Although theres only a 10% chance of that

 

[DaveInDenver]

But they still wont have a "real truck." Just the Frontier, which is a solid midsize, but this does nothing to propel Honda into having a real truck as even the Titan was never accepted as one, and that's been axed

In North America, sure. Nissan (and their partners Mitsubishi and Renault) make all kinds of them, the Patrol, Triton, medium duty, etc. I don't know Honda's motivation here or the way their alliances will shake out (don't Mitsubishi and Ram have some sort of cross marketing). I doubt they're thinking about trucks in any significant way, it's not their core. But one thing that gets pointed out when comparing against a Tacoma or otherwise is that their truck and SUV are unibody IFS/IRS, more like a beefy Maverick. I bet sales would increase if all they do is slap the Honda name on a Frontier. The brand has a very strong market power on reliability alone. Who knows, too, with Honda driving the bus Nissan quality may improve.

 

[AbleGuy]

I bet sales would increase if all they do is slap the Honda name on a Frontier. The brand has a very strong market power on reliability alone. Who knows, too, with Honda driving the bus Nissan quality may improve.

Just slapping a Honda badge on to a Frontier would never improve build quality of course.

Doing that could even hurt Honda’s reputation..

So yeah, you’d certainly would hope this merger would result in improving Nissan products build quality.

Unfortunately, the latest news is that the merger proposal seems to be coming apart.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Just slapping a Honda badge on to a Frontier would never improve build quality of course.

Doing that could even hurt Honda’s reputation..

So yeah, you’d certainly would hope this merger would result in improving Nissan products build quality.

Unfortunately, the latest news is that the merger proposal seems to be coming apart.

Give the Frontier a Honda engine, and maybe you'll have something

 

[2025 deleted member]

Give the Frontier a Honda engine, and maybe you'll have something

The frontier has a really good engine in it.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

The frontier has a really good engine in it.

Ok. Nevermind then. So, what do people thi k prevents the Frontier from having sort of a higher status amongst the mid sizes, I wonder

 

[2025 deleted member]

Ok. Nevermind then. So, what do people thi k prevents the Frontier from having sort of a higher status amongst the mid sizes, I wonder

Because it’s the Chrysler of Japan.

 

[AbleGuy]

Ok. Nevermind then. So, what do people thi k prevents the Frontier from having sort of a higher status amongst the mid sizes, I wonder

Could help with quality control and reliability rating maybe.

Right now the Frontier seems to suffer poor reviews with some evaluators.

 

[2025 deleted member]

Could help with quality control and reliability rating maybe.

Right now the Frontier seems to suffer poor reviews with some evaluators.

I think the appeal used to be the price, but they are just as expensive as a equally equipped Ranger- and the Ranger is just a lot more capable truck

 

[toddz69]

And now the deal's off....

Todd Z.

 

[2025 deleted member]

And now the deal's off....

Todd Z.

Seems odd to see a company like Nissan circling the drain, hope they get it all worked out.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Seems odd to see a company like Nissan circling the drain, hope they get it all worked out.

Two words: Carlos Ghosn.

That's about $200 million worth of issues right there. Maybe more. They dont know because of all the shell companies. That and infighting with Renault.

I would miss the Z car. Had an '86 with digital dash, T tops and leather seats. Loved that car. Got hit head on by a drunk driver in it, or I'd still be driving it on weekends. I would miss the Frontier. I never owned one but a friend has one. I would miss the X-Terra- oh, wait...hey stopped making that, so I miss it already. Epic Fail for cancellation of that model given the recent Overlander climate.

I remember some pretty cool cars of the 80's, the 200 SX I think it was. The Pulsar. In the mid 90's I had a girlfriend that had, maybe a mid 80's Maxima. Way way way ahead of most US designed and built cars of that time. Flat, brushed aluminum back lit buttons. Very nice

Lady Beagle once had an 04 Murano in that burnt orange color. That was a nice vehicle. More storage than my Jeep WJ Grand Cherokee. More comfortable seats. We were lucky - the CVT transmission never gave us a hassle. Instead, the head gasket needed replacing at only 117k miles, but by then, it wasn't worth the 2 grand to fix it.

They had some good stuff. Altima was a hit, Sentra / Stanza, were good econo-boxes. It would be nice for them to stick around. It's hard to see how 2 or 3 low grade, off prime car companies could bolster Nissan, though.

 

[MarcusBrody]

Looks like the current Nissan CEO will step down, which seemed to be one of the preconditions for renewing merger talks.