You’ve seen it testing time and time again, then the Chinese automotive media leaked some photographs of it. But Nissan has had enough, which is why the all-new Terra went official before its planned premiere in April at Auto China 2018.
The first body-on-frame Nissan launched under the M.O.V.E. midterm plan, the Terra is nothing more than a Navara pickup truck with seating for seven people and a handful of different design elements. Going official in Beijing two months from now on, the Terra brings “4x4 capabilities to China and select markets across Asia.”
It remains to be seen if Nissan will extend availability to Europe, where the Navara is selling by the bucketload. Another possibility that’s worth taking into account is the United States, which will soon see the Frontier welcome an all-new generation. With the Canton Vehicle Assembly Plant retooled for production of the NP300-based Frontier, it’s not that big of an effort to adapt the factory for the Terra as well.
"I'm very pleased to announce that the all-new Nissan Terra will soon arrive in China," commented Ashwani Gupta, senior vice president for Nissan's frame and light commercial vehicle business. "This rugged SUV is practical, authentic, and designed to go anywhere.” Which it does without breaking a sweat, as you can tell from the teaser video.
Although it arrived a little too late to the party, the Terra comes as a result of improving sales in frame and light commercial vehicles. Nissan sold 907,929 such vehicles in 2017, which represents an increase of 7 percent from the previous year.
The automaker refused to detail the oily bits of the Terra, though Chinese media has some information in this regard. The engine, for example, is a 2.5-liter four-cylinder of the naturally aspirated type, packing 183 horsepower and an automatic transmission.
In markets such as Australia, the body-on-frame utility vehicle is utmost certain to receive the 2.3-liter dCi from the Navara, packing 190 ponies and 450 Nm of torque in twin-turbo diesel configuration.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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