Overview
- Nissan SVP Michael Soutter told The Drive at the LA Auto Show that putting Pathfinder back on a pickup-based frame would be logical and that the body-on-frame era is not over.
- Soutter said the near-term priority is localizing production of confirmed body-on-frame models, the Frontier and revived Xterra, in Canton, Mississippi or Smyrna, Tennessee.
- Nissan intends the new Xterra to anchor a family of ladder-frame vehicles, with additional models considered once plant capacity and scale are validated.
- The company frames Xterra and any potential body-on-frame Pathfinder as genuine off-roaders rather than crossover trims dressed up for rugged looks, saying the Pathfinder name should stand for capability.
- No timeline or formal program for a body-on-frame Pathfinder was announced, and the model’s past shifts between unibody and ladder-frame designs underscore the pending decision.