Nissan Discontinues Xterra
Off-roading enthusiasts will mourn the loss of Nissan’s scrappy trail runner, the Xterra. The automaker announced Tuesday that 2015 is the SUV’s final model year.
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Nissan eulogized the Xterra as an SUV that “helped reinvigorate the Nissan brand at the beginning of the century,” noting that it’s sold more than 750,000 of them since the first generation debuted back in mid-1999. Still, not many of those sales came at the end: Shoppers bought just 6,918 Xterras through the first six months of 2015. That’s down 29.2 percent despite SUV sales booming — a trend that lifted off-roaders as long in the tooth as the Jeep Wrangler.
By that measure, the Xterra might have walrus tusks. It’s among the market’s oldest cars in any segment, with the current generation sailing into its 11th model year for 2015.
Nissan says it expects to sell the final Xterra this fall. You should be able to find one if you act soon; as of today, Cars.com has 1,343 Xterras in new-car inventory.
We didn’t see the discontinuation of the Xterra coming. Given the demise of its fellow trailblazer, the Toyota FJ Cruiser, anyone looking for an affordable hardcore off-roader will have to choose between a pickup truck and various Jeeps, the pluckiest among them the Wrangler. The good news? The Wrangler is to Jeep what turkey is to Thanksgiving. It isn’t going anywhere.
