Nissan’s mid-size Frontier pickup truck is one of the most antiquated vehicle designs you can buy new today, with the current generation dating to the 2005 model year. We had started to wonder about the fate of the Frontier, as questions about a next-generation model went unanswered for years. Until now, that is, because Nissan’s latest production announcement confirms that there will in fact be a new Frontier and that it will be built alongside the full-size Titan pickup (and several other models) at Nissan’s plant in Canton, Mississippi, just as it is now.
Other than confirming that its arrival is more than a year away, Nissan isn’t saying much about the truck itself. There has been speculation that the new Frontier would align with Nissan’s global mid-size pickup, the Navara, which was redesigned much more recently and is currently sold in various other markets. It has even spun off variants that wear other brands’ badges, including a Renault and a Mercedes-Benz. We might yet get a federalized Navara, but the Canton production site also makes it possible that the “new” model will be more of a heavy refresh of the existing Frontier, continuing along on a version of its current underpinnings with a new body, a significantly updated interior, and possibly new engines to replace the current 2.5-liter four-cylinder and 4.0-liter V-6 options.
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Regardless of what Nissan decides to do, there’s a lot of opportunity to be had in the rejuvenated mid-size pickup market. Even the current, aged Frontier is selling well, despite fresher competition from General Motors, Honda, and Toyota. Ford, too, will soon re-enter this space with a new Ranger, so the redesigned Frontier will surely have its work cut out for it once it hits the scene within the next few years.