2016 Nissan Frontier Will Have Few Changes

Nissan will spend much of its time and money this year and next on the all-new half-ton and half-ton-plus Nissan Titan, set to go on sale later this year. As a consequence, the Titan's midsize brother, the Frontier, is not likely to get much love until the later part of next year. Most reports have the next-generation Frontier set to debut as a 2017 model. The expectation is that it will not only be better able to compete against an entire segment of all-new competitors — the Toyota Tacoma, Chevrolet Colorado, Honda Ridgeline and GMC Canyon — but it will likely set the bar as a class leader in several key areas.

So it's not surprising the 2016 Frontier will have few changes as it continues to lose marketshare and month-over-month sales to the current-gen Tacoma, Colorado and Canyon. But that doesn't mean Nissan doesn't still love its long-ignored, downsized, value-packed pickup; the Frontier has often been the least expensive vehicle in our apples-to-apples comparisons. Even with sales down for the year through July, the Frontier has a good chance of selling more than 80,000 units as more people are shopping all the options in the midsize pickup truck segment.

For the 2016 model year, Frontier will still offer five trim packages: the base S in both four-cylinder and V-6, the SV, the PRO-4X (4×4 only), the Desert Runner (on a 4×4 frame but only offered in 4×2) and the top-of-the-line SL (crewcab only). New for 2016 is an optional moonroof offered on SV models, and three new colors: Sunset Orange, Gun Metallic and Magnetic Black. Metallic Blue, Night Armor and Super Black will not be available for 2016. Pricing will be released closer to the on-sale date, which is slated for September.

Cars.com image by Evan Sears