2016 Nissan Titan XD named 2015 Truck of Texas

EDIT (Oct 13. 2015): To add information about awards given to the 2016 Toyota Tacoma and Lexus LX 570.

Nissan’s 2016 Titan pickup has been named the “2015 Truck of Texas” by the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA), marking the first time the organization has given its top truck award to an import-branded pickup.

The award comes after TAWA’s annual ‘truck rodeo,’ which brings together more than 50 automotive journalists for a two-day evaluation of the best trucks, SUVs and crossovers in the marketplace. This time around, the Titan was also named Luxury Pickup Truck of Texas (for the top-end Platinum Reserve trim), Off-Road Pickup Truck of Texas (for the PRO-4X model), and Best Powertrain for its standard Cummins 5.0L V8 Turbo Diesel engine.

While the TAWA website is entirely unhelpful as far as telling us what trucks the Titan was up against, we’ll assume (perhaps to our detriment) that it competed against the all-new Toyota Tacoma (which is actually built in Texas), and diesel-powered versions of the Chevrolet/GMC Coloranyon twins.

Nissan has taken an interesting approach by launching the Titan with a big diesel as its only engine (making 310 hp/555 lb-ft of torque), which the company says gives the truck the towing capacity of a heavy-duty pickup, and the fuel economy of a half-ton. Nissan says that after the Titan’s December, 2015 launch, it will add two more powertrain choices, and offer two frame sizes, three cab configurations, and five grade levels.

Other category winners include the 2016 Toyota Tacoma, named 2015 Mid-Size Truck of Texas, and the Lexus LX 570, which earned the title of Full-Size Luxury SUV of Texas.