North American International Auto Show
Detroit, Michigan
January 12, 2015
Good morning everyone, and welcome.
This is the all-new Nissan Titan, a truck that was conceived, designed, and engineered here in the United States.
With its newly developed Cummins V8 turbo diesel engine, it's American-powered. And it delivers what American truck lovers have been waiting for.
A decade ago, Nissan was a newcomer to America's pick-up segment. With the first-generation Titan, we fielded a strong truck. And we introduced the Nissan brand to a whole new base of customers. That was just a starting point.
In developing the second-generation Titan, we listened to these customers. We applied Nissan's global expertise in Light Commercial Vehicles. And we assembled a first-rate product development team of top engineers and designers, who are life-long truck lovers, owners and enthusiasts.
We have done all this because we see opportunity – an opportunity in the unmet needs of today's American truck customers.
We have carefully studied this market, and a few facts stand out. First, of the two million pickups sold annually in America, one quarter are in the "Heavy Duty"; category.
Second, the wide majority of those heavy-duty pickups have a diesel engine.
Third, of the one million light-duty pick-up trucks sold in the United States, zero has a V-8 diesel engine. If you wanted a V8 diesel, you simply had no option. You had to go heavy-duty – until now.
Each year, 75,000 Americans move up from light-duty to heavy-duty pickups. However, just as many people move the other way. That's 150,000 owners who are struggling to find the right truck.
For these customers, the new Titan is the truck that they have been looking for. It fills in the "white space"; in the market in terms of capabilities, comfort and cost of ownership, between light and heavy-duty pick-ups.
It also delivers an exciting new level of features. With the 2016 Nissan Titan XD, we weren't just going for "best-in-class."; Instead, we are offering the "Best New Class.";
The new Titan will deliver toughness, capability, and quality. Titan XD is designed for the customer who wants more power than a light-series pick-up – but without the price premium. And it's for those who want capability, without compromising ride comfort.
Titan's available Cummins 5.0-liter Turbo Diesel V8 is more capable than smaller displacement-diesel engines. Yet, compared with big-bore diesels, it's less expensive to buy and maintain. A Titan equipped with the Cummins 5.0-liter Diesel V8 is fuel-efficient and able to tow more than 12,000 pounds.
Despite this phenomenal capability, Titan XD will fit into most standard-sized garages.
The Titan XD diesel will also deliver a projected
20 percent better fuel economy than its V8 gasoline-powered rivals. That's real-world MPG – not empty bed or without a trailer.
In addition to a range of cab configurations, the Titan lineup will ultimately offer multiple powertrain choices. These include an all-new workhorse V8, as well as our first V6 in this class.
This new truck also builds upon Titan's celebrated history of innovation. Its cutting-edge utility features include a one-of-a-kind light-check trailer hook-up system. With this system, hooking up a trailer becomes a one-person process, easily operated from the key fob.
Safety and convenience will be bolstered through available features such as Around View Monitor, Blind Spot Warning and Moving Object Detection.
These world-class levels of power, innovation, safety and convenience were all developed here in the United States. The new Titan was engineered at our Michigan technical center. It was designed in California. It was tested at our proving grounds in Arizona. Titan's V8 and V6 engines will be built at Nissan's powertrain plant in Tennessee. And, of course, Titan will continue to be assembled in Mississippi.
This truck underscores Nissan's commitment to localized production. Nissan has invested more than $5 billion here in the past five years. And we have moved manufacturing of several models from overseas to our North American plants.
Our growing U.S. presence is bolstering our performance, and it helped to make 2014 a year of significant growth for Nissan in the United States.
Our operations, our network of partners, and – most importantly – our products are stronger than ever. Nissan is targeting 10 percent U.S. market share, and the all-new Titan is a key part of our growth strategy.
In every way, this truck is an American Titan. And it will strengthen Nissan's network of U.S. plants and long record of manufacturing excellence.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to introduce the pick-up that American truck lovers have been waiting for, the all-new Nissan Titan.
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