Automakers rarely issue official statements as to why they choose to discontinue one of their vehicles, so it was a mystery why Nissan discontinued the Xterra in 2015, with 17 model years to its credit and a decade since its last redesign. While the last iteration of the Nissan Xterra was showing its age, it’s one of the discontinued Nissan models we wish were still available today, albeit in an updated form worthy of its potential.
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The recent resurgence in premium off-road-capable SUVs such as the Ford Bronco, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and Toyota Forerunner indicates the market is ready for a revised Xterra that could revive the Nissan brand. However, it seems unlikely that Nissan would place any sizable bets on the Xterra, given that its poor sales performance was likely a main reason that it was discontinued in the first place.
Cost was another reason that the “Made in USA” Nissan Xterra was culled from the lineup following the 2015 model year. Edmunds points out that the mid-2010s was a time of tightening emissions and safety mandates. With the Xterra’s poor sales performance, upgrades were likely hard to justify in any Nissan boardroom.
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