I have to admit I like the new design of the Nissan Titan a lot better than the old one.

Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn unveiled the all-new 2016 TITAN XD at the Detroit Auto Show this week. This is Nissan’s bid to make an aggressive return to the full-size pickup segment. This new truck was created specifically with American consumers in mind. You can see in some ways the styling has a more traditional front grille though it definitely has some Nissan flair to it as well. The new TITAN sports a Cummins 5.0L V8 Turbo Diesel and aims at a “new class” of full-size truck between current heavy-duty and light-duty offerings.

The with core planning, design and engineering of the new truck was conducted in Tennessee, California, Michigan and Arizona, and it will be assembled in Mississippi, with engines from Tennessee and Indiana.

The compact CUV segment has been on fire as it has grown 60% since model year 2009. It’s projected to increase an additional 6.5% in the next year. The segment is very competitive and the OEMs are introducing updated models with more and more features. Nissan redesigned 2014 Rogue is an example as it sports a number of new interior and exterior features (see this review).

Consumers can now get more features and luxury in this space, but that means prices are creeping up. The new Rogue will range from around $22,000 up to over $32,000 for a loaded up vehicle. According to Nissan executives, that’s leaving an opening in the $20 – $22,000 range and they aim to address it by continuing production of the 2013 Rogue as a 2014 “Rogue Select” which starts at just under $20,000. It will be fascinating to see how this strategy works. Nissan has seen a nice sales spike this year with the Rogue after the company reduced prices.

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Nissan has been a leader in the compact car segment with the Versa as it can offer the four-door sedan along with a hatchback. With the 2014 Versa Note we’re finally seeing the promised redesign for this vehicle, which looks much different that the four-door sedan.

As you can see the vehicle looks stylish, but it’s not overly quirky or funky. Nissan is much more focused on practicality and fuel economy with this vehicle, targeting mostly couples without children.

You can see a video review below, and here are reviews from Edmonds, Autoblog, The Truth About Cars and Bullz-Eye.com.

As the all new 2013 Nissan Altima starts rolling off assembly lines you know her rivals have to be getting a bit nervous. We are hopefully going to be driving this hot machine soon and if the new Altima drives as good as it looks this Altima will make a run for the top selling car in America!

From Auto Blog:

Nissan started Job One production for the 2013 Altima sedan at its Smyrna, Tennessee plant today.

Nissan has big plans for the fifth-generation Altima, which was the number-two selling car in the United States in 2011. The company is adding a third shift at Smyna, and shifting models around between this plant and its Canton, Mississippi plant with an eye toward the Altima passing the Toyota Camry as the top-selling model in America.

Toyota sold 308,510 Camrys last year, compared with Nissan’s 268,981 Altimas.

“We haven’t built and designed this car the way we have, and made all these changes with a goal of being number-two,” said Nissan Americas vice chairman Bill Krueger. Krueger admits that the consumer will vote on whether the Altima becomes the top selling car. “But we are ready to make this car the top seller if the customer agrees.”

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam chimed in on the rivalry. “We are going to give the folks down in Georgetown [Kentucky] a serious run for the money,” said Haslam, speaking of Toyota’s plant in the neighboring state.

Read the full article.

It wasn’t that long ago when the future of Nissan wss in doubt so you have to give Carlos Ghosn credit for taking Nissan/Infiniti to the next level. Yes, Nissan just reported that Q1 profits doubled and annual sales set a new record.

From the Detroit Free Press:

TOKYO — Nissan’s January-March profit more than doubled to 75.3 billion yen ($941 million) as the Japanese automaker achieved record sales despite production disruptions from last year’s tsunami.

Nissan annual global sales reached a record 4.85 million vehicles, showing a quick recovery from the March 2011 earthquake that ravaged much of northeastern Japan, the Yokohama-based manufacturer said Friday.

Nissan continues to be bullish — expecting to sell 5.35 million vehicles this fiscal year, up 10% for another record.

It also raised its forecasts for the fiscal year through March 2013, to a 400 billion yen ($5 billion) profit, up from its earlier forecast for 290 billion yen ($3.6 billion).

President and CEO Carlos Ghosn said Nissan held up well in recent months amid serious hardships, including a slowdown in Europe, and was gearing up for more growth, banking on solid demand in China and other emerging markets.

Read the full article.