Although gas is now well below the $2 mark across most of the country, large SUV sales are still far below 2007 sales levels. Because of that fact, along with looming CAFE regulations, Nissan is reportedly mulling the idea of killing its full-size SUV lineup.
Along with its full-size SUVs – the Nissan Armada and the Infiniti QX56 — MotorTrend is also reporting that Nissan is considering axing its Quest minivan. What do these vehicles have in common (besides slumping sales)? All three are all made at Nissan’s production plant in Mississippi.
That bit of information is significant because Nissan plans on using its Mississippi plant for production of its new commercial vehicle, the NV2500. Nissan’s commercial fleet will soon grow to three vehicles, meaning the Mississippi plant will likely be converted to commercial-only production.
However, the writing was probably already on the wall for the Armada and QX56 as both vehicles are based on Nissan’s Titan pickup truck. The Titian will switch over to the Dodge Ram’s architecture early next decade, leaving both SUVs without a platform. There probably isn’t much hope for Ram-based versions of the SUVs, either, as Chrysler has already announced that it will soon be ending production of its full-size SUVs, the Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen.
