Nissan Pathfinder becoming rugged Prado rival, smaller off-roader coming – report

The Nissan Pathfinder has switched from being a rugged body-on-frame off-roader to a more road-focused unibody SUV twice now, and it’s reportedly switching back again.

Automotive News reports Nissan held a US dealer meeting on August 20 in Las Vegas, where it teased an array of new product as it promises to deliver 20 new and updated models to the US and Canadian markets by the northern spring (March to May) of 2027.

That includes the next generation of the Rogue mid-size SUV, as the US-built version of the X-Trail is known, which is due in 2027 and will offer petrol and third-generation e-Power series hybrid powertrains.

Given the lag between the current Rogue and X-Trail launching, that could mean the next Japanese-built X-Trail may not appear until 2028 or 2029.

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Above: Current Nissan Pathfinder

Guests were also reportedly shown a new generation of the Nissan Skyline-twinned Infiniti Q50 mid-size luxury sedan, as well as an Infiniti-badged version of the next Rogue – wearing the QX50 nameplate – which will offer Nissan’s e-Power powertrain as standard.

Nissan will reportedly introduce a new body-on-frame platform that will support five new models, understood to include the next-generation Frontier pickup – the current model being an evolution of the old D40 Navara – plus a revived Xterra off-roader.

While executives didn’t reveal product specifications at the dealer meeting, Automotive News reports word from people familiar with the plan that this platform will also support the next-generation Nissan Pathfinder and Infiniti QX60 and QX65.

The current Pathfinder and QX60 – as well as the QX65, which is launching soon – share a unibody platform that has previously underpinned passenger cars.

Above: The last body-on-frame Pathfinder and Xterra

Moving the Pathfinder to a ladder-frame platform shared with the Frontier would be a return to form, as this is exactly what it was based on two generations ago.

Meanwhile, the revived Xterra will reportedly launch in 2028, and enter production at Nissan’s Canton, Mississippi plant in the US.

It’ll reportedly use a V6 hybrid powertrain, with the potential for an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) powertrain offering 121km of electric-only range.

Though never sold here, the Xterra was produced across two generations from 1999 to 2015 as a rugged off-roader derived from the contemporary Navara.

Above: Teaser from earlier this year, showing unnamed boxy new SUV (right)

In effect, it was a smaller, more adventure-focused counterpart to the old Navara-based Pathfinder, before that model morphed into a car-based crossover SUV.

Nissan showed dealers imagery of a design study featuring an upright grille and squarish headlights. The revived Xterra is also set to offer various off-road packages and accessories, including heavy-duty roof racks, and serve as Nissan’s closest thing to a Ford Bronco rival.

The company previously teased a spiritual Xterra successor earlier this year, though this was a less rugged though still boxy unibody electric SUV entering production in Mississippi at the end of Japanese fiscal year 2027, which ends on March 31, 2028.

It’s unclear whether these are separate vehicles. According to InsideEVs, Nissan design head Alfonso Albaisa said this was a unibody vehicle.

Above: Infiniti QX65 Monograph concept

“We are laser-focused on product [and] we are just getting started,” Nissan Americas chairman Christian Meunier reportedly told around 2500 attendees. “We have done a better job of planning, making sure the right cars are in the right place.”

Nissan is aiming for this fresh product to address a sales slide in the crucial US market, where sales are down by more than 30 per cent from five years ago.

The company is in the midst of a major global restructuring.

In May, it announced a loss of ¥670.9 billion (A$7.1bn) for the financial year ending March 2025.

Above: New Nissan Leaf

In response, new Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa unveiled the Re:Nissan recovery plan, which will see its global workforce cut by 15 per cent or 20,000 people and seven of its 17 plants worldwide closed, including two in Japan and one in Mexico, which was the first plant it opened outside its homeland.

Nissan is aiming to reduce its production capacity, outside of China, from 3.5 million cars per year to 2.5 million.

It also plans to reduce parts complexity by 70 per cent, and decrease the number of platforms from 13 to seven by fiscal year 2035.

The Japanese automaker says it’s working to shorten the development time of its new vehicles to 37 months, with subsequent models based on these to take 30 months – down from 52 months and 50 months, respectively.

MORE: Explore the Nissan Pathfinder showroom