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Nissan Reportedly Considering Small Truck, Electric Powertrain Also Mooted

Nissan has a very long history of pickups. The first one they brought in the United States through official channels is the Datsun 220, revealed in U.S. spec at the 1958 Los Angeles Auto Show alongside the 210 sedan.
Datsun Sunny Truck 8 photos
Photo: Nissan
Datsun Sunny TruckDatsun Sunny TruckDatsun Sunny TruckDatsun Sunny TruckDatsun Sunny TruckDatsun Sunny TruckDatsun Sunny Truck
Nearly a decade later, the compact pickup was followed by the half-ton 520. Nissan stepped up their game with the Hardbody for the 1986.5 model year, which used to be made in Smyrna, Tennessee where the Japanese automaker currently makes the Leaf, Maxima, Rogue, Murano, Pathfinder, and QX60.

For the 2022 model year, the company offers two pickups in the United States in the form of the mid-size Frontier and full-size Titan. After Hyundai and the Ford Motor Company introduced the Tucson- and Escape-based Santa Cruz and Maverick, hearsay suggests that Nissan will follow in their footsteps with a compact pickup that may be gifted with electric propulsion.

A person familiar with the matter told Automotive News about this truck, but the VP of sales and regional operations at Nissan in the United States couldn’t say if that’s actually true. Judy Wheeler did highlight that pickups are extremely hot right now, especially with adventure-oriented customers.

There are two problems with the yet-to-be-confirmed pickup, starting with competition. Hyundai and the Blue Oval already have a foothold in the compact segment, and thanks to hindsight, the Santa Cruz and Maverick of the future may be more competitive than Nissan’s trucklet. Even more importantly, Nissan still hasn’t proven itself as a true EV disruptor even though the Leaf predates the first series-production Model S by two years.

There’s also a third problem that few people may be considering, and that is the financial health of the company. For the 2020 fiscal year that ended on March 31st, 2021, net income has improved from 2019 but it’s not good enough either. The Japanese automaker has posted a net loss of 448.7 billion yen or just over $4 billion at current exchange rates, and the outlook for 2021 isn’t great due to an expected net loss of 60 billion yen ($544 million).

During these cash-strapped times and the uncertainty surrounding the chip shortage, it’s hard to believe that Nissan has the financial resources to deliver a segment-leading pickup truck with a world-class EV powertrain.
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Editor's note: Datsun Sunny Truck pictured.

About the author: Mircea Panait
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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.
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