The Nissan Pathfinder has had an…interesting history with its chassis design.
Like so many other popular models today, the Nissan Pathfinder emerged in the 1980s as the notion of a boxy, practical and capable “SUV” really started to develop. Back then, truck-based body-on-frame SUVs ruled the class, but several icons have since shifted to a unibody design, where the body and the chassis are fully integrated. Unless you’re the Nissan Pathfinder, that is, as it’s flip-flopped between body-on-frame and a unibody setup through the generations. Only in its two most recent iterations, stretching back to 2012, has it consistently been a unibody SUV. That may soon change…but there’s an asterisk involved.
According to an Automotive News report, Nissan is indeed working on a new, more rugged body-on-frame Pathfinder. That isn’t a terribly shocking development in itself, considering it’s also working on a revived Xterra. So, it makes sense a three-row version of that could make its way into the fold. It could even be a popular move, given the general sentiment toward the automaker bringing back a more direct competitor to the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco, more than a decade after phasing the last Xterra out (at precisely the wrong moment, depending on who you ask).
Here’s the curveball:
Nissan will also sell an updated version of the existing unibody Pathfinder along its supposed body-on-frame stablemate, according to an unnamed source close to the matter. The road-going Pathfinder may arrive by 2028 or so, while a more truck-like alternative could land in 2029, following the reported target production date for the new Xterra.
To be clear, Nissan has not outright confirmed that. However, in speaking to outlets including Car and Driver, the automaker hasn’t flat-out denied it. A spokesperson noted no fewer than four vehicles on the Xterra’s platform will follow the Xterra itself into production (one of those vehicles almost certainly being the Mitsubishi Montero). While that isn’t an admission, full-stop, it does get the imagination running. After that, the company pulled the usual “decisions will happen inline with customer demand” comment, as it’s usually not standard operating procedure to confirm something is happening this far in advance.
So…what will the differences be apart from the chassis?
Apparently, per the AN report, Nissan will separate the two models by powertrain options, as well as chassis layout. The updated, unibody Nissan Pathfinder may well carry on with an internal combustion-only option, much like it does now. The body-on-frame model, on the other hand, may get a hybrid powertrain, much like we’re expecting with the new Xterra.
Nissan will build its new body-on-frame SUVs alongside the Frontier pickup, when these new models do come to the market.
For the time being, firm details are thin on the ground, since Nissan is staying fairly quiet about what exactly it’s planning here. Nonetheless, between these five body-on-frame SUVs (including the Xterra itself, naturally) and a crop of existing unibody SUVs (Kicks, Rogue, Murano, unibody Pathfinder and Armada), it sounds like Nissan dealerships may get awfully crowded with SUV options in the coming years.
