Nissan Looked at the Turbo-Four Trend and Said No Thanks
The new Xterra is keeping its V6, and that's either the most stubborn decision in the segment or the smartest one.
Photo · The Drive
Nissan is putting a V6 in the new Xterra. Not a turbocharged four with a clever tune and a marketing sheet full of torque figures. A V6. The kind of engine that doesn't need explaining at a trailhead.
Every other manufacturer is chasing efficiency numbers with small-displacement boost. Some of those engines are genuinely good. Some of them feel like a compromise wearing a press release. Nissan looked at all of it and decided their buyer doesn't want that.
They're probably right.
The Xterra has always been a truck person's SUV — bought by people who actually use the thing, not people who like the idea of using it. That buyer knows what a V6 sounds like under load. They've felt one pull a trailer up a grade. The engine note means something to them. Efficiency is a nice bonus. It's not why they showed up.
There's a version of this decision that's just inertia — an automaker too slow to adapt. But there's another version where someone in a boardroom actually listened to who was buying their product and made a call based on that. In 2025, that's almost radical.
The Xterra doesn't need to win a comparison test. It needs to be the thing its people reach for. Keeping the V6 is a statement that Nissan knows who those people are.