Reimagined 2024 Nissan Xterra Makes a Body-on-Frame SUV Out of the U.S. Frontier

Think about it for a moment. Nissan has quite a versatile family of models, starting with the Versa sedan as far as passenger cars are concerned or kicking off with the little Kicks when dealing with crossovers and SUVs. Of course, it all boils down to having an Armada of models when trying to cross the Frontier and beat the eternal Honda and Toyota foes in terms of American sales.

Still, that may not be enough, as it is quite obvious from the Titan(ic) efforts needed to fight the eternal best-selling mid-size pickup truck king – aka the Toyota Tacoma. Well, perhaps the Japanese company just needs reinforcements – even from across the imaginative realm of virtual automotive artists if the real-world endeavors are not enough. So, cue to the good folks over at the AutoYa info channel on YouTube.

They have recently imagined that Nissan simply needs a body-on-frame SUV sibling for the D41 Nissan Frontier mid-size pickup truck, which just went on its standalone, North America-dedicated merry way as opposed to just going along for the modified Navara (MP300) ride. And, of course, they also have the perfect nameplate for this rough and tough 4WD sport utility vehicle.

As such, witness the return of the truck-based Xterra compact SUV in a mid-size form that would make it suitable to fight the big turf war against Jeep’s Wrangler, Ford’s reinvented sixth-gen Bronco, and especially against the Tacoma-based 4Runner SUV. Well, that would certainly turn into a brawl for the ages.

Especially since Nissan has not done anything in that direction since the Xterra was born as a compact body-on-frame SUV in 1999 and only lived across the spawn of two generations, until 2015. During that time, the original Xterra also had a few other names and was produced all around the world, from China to Brazil and the United States (Smyrna, Tennessee, and Canton, Mississippi), before its rather untimely demise.

Now that the Toyota 4Runner still enjoys success with an N280 fifth generation that has been around since 2009 (back then the Xterra had no worries and was manufactured at NSAP!) and the Jeep Wrangler or Ford Bronco have demonstrated that rugged SUVs are just as good as family-oriented CUV mall crawlers, maybe it is also time for Nissan to think about bringing back the adventure-ready nameplate. The channel’s pixel master certainly thinks the neo-retro design could strike at the core of the 4x4 community and sure acts accordingly.

So, the reinvented, third-gen 2024 Nissan Xterra has a fresh, Frontier-inspired front end that bodes well for the 21st-century buyer. But it also comes with a distinctive profile and a minimalist rear (as far as we can tell) that tries to show this 4WD might need minimal maintenance and maximum overlanding road trip adventures. So, do we like the ritzy color reel enough to give it our CGI hall pass, or not?