Titan will be the only truck in its class with a V8 oil burner.
Good news for folks who want a diesel V8 for towing but don’t want a heavy duty 2500 series truck. Nissan will be offering a turbo-diesel 5.0L V8 in its next Titan, due in either the 2015 or 2016 model years.
Constantly at the bottom of the pack in sales, the Titan hasn’t seen significant updating since it went on sale in 2003. A replacement was initially planned to be based off the new Ram 1500, but the deal between Chrysler and Nissan fell through.
Since then, and after acquiring Fred Dias from the Ram brand, Nissan has been working on a new truck in-house. They seem to be very serious about bringing a viable competitor to market with this announcement of a new diesel.
The new 5.0L engine from Cummins should pump out 300+ hp and about 550 lb-ft of torque. This is a lot less than other diesel engines currently offered by the Big 3, but engines are much larger in the heavy duty pickups. The 5.0L should bring more capability to light duty trucks than the new Chrysler 3.0L diesel and better fuel economy than the heavier hitters.
Press release and images below.
NISSAN TO EQUIP NEXT-GENERATION TITAN PICKUP WITH NEW CUMMINS TURBO DIESEL ENGINE
IRVINE, Calif. – At the kickoff of Nissan 360, an industry showcase of Nissan’s global product and technology portfolio, the company announced it will offer a newly-developed Cummins V8 turbo diesel in its next-generation full-size pickup.
Now in the latter stages of development and testing, the available Cummins 5.0L V8 Turbo Diesel engine has been optimized for the next generation Titan as a result of the partnership between Cummins and Nissan. Cummins also is developing a version of the engine for its commercial vehicle customers.
“We have done our homework on the next-generation Titan. Truck owners told us there’s a demand for the performance and torque of a diesel in a capable truck that doesn’t require the jump up to a heavy-duty commercial pickup,” said Fred Diaz, divisional vice president, Nissan Sales & Marketing, Service & Parts, Nissan North America. “There is no question that the new Titan will turn heads, and with the available Cummins 5.0L V8 Turbo Diesel, we expect to win new fans and attract buyers looking for this unique configuration.”
Nissan has previously announced the next-generation Titan will add powertrain options and cab-and-box configurations to broaden the appeal of the new truck when it comes to market.
“We are very excited to partner with Nissan on the introduction of the Cummins 5.0L V8 Turbo Diesel to the North American pickup truck market,” said Dave Crompton, vice president, Cummins Engine Business. “This new engine will offer the right balance of power, performance and fuel economy while delivering the dependability that customers expect of a Cummins engine. This will be a great package.”
With a torque rating in the mid-500s (lb-ft) and more than 300 horsepower, the Cummins 5.0L V8 Turbo Diesel will provide light truck customers the combination of towing capacity and mileage that is expected in the highly-competitive North American truck marketplace.
The Cummins 5.0L V8 Turbo Diesel will be built in America’s manufacturing heartland at the Columbus Engine Plant, in Columbus, Ind., Cummins headquarters. This plant has the latest technological innovations to continue the 90-plus year tradition of building the highest quality Cummins engines.
The Titan program is being led by teams in Nissan Americas’ headquarters in Franklin, Tenn., while engineering and testing is performed by Nissan Technical Center North America in Farmington Hills, Mich. and Stanfield, Ariz. as well as Nissan’s global engineering center. Design is being led by Nissan Design America in La Jolla, Calif.
Like the current model, the next-generation Titan will be built at Nissan’s Canton, Miss. vehicle assembly plant and its gasoline engines cast, forged and assembled at Nissan’s Decherd, Tenn. powertrain plant.
For competitive reasons, Nissan is not announcing launch dates at this stage in the truck’s development, however engineering prototype trucks powered by the Cummins engine are currently undergoing extensive on-public-highway performance and durability testing.
Further information on the upcoming Titan truck and Cummins engine will be released at a later date.
