You may have forgotten, but for some time now, a half-ton truck with a diesel engine has already been offered. And not only was it available with a diesel engine, but the powertrain was also courtesy of Cummins. The company whose engines have long been found in Ram pickup trucks.
Why did Nissan drop the Titan diesel engine?
While you might think a full-size with a turbocharged engine would be popular, Nissan killed off the diesel Titan fairly quickly. The 5.0-liter diesel debuted in 2015, but by 2019, it was on its way to being a chipper. This means that you can no longer get the power and torque of a diesel.
About half of all Titan XD trucks sold have the 5.0-liter turbocharged V8 engine. But with the Titan at the bottom of the barrel in terms of full-size pickups, there really aren’t many Nissan Titan buyers to begin with.
Diesel trucks were slowly dying
Unless you’re a consumer who wants a heavy-duty truck, you’ve probably noticed a trend. Many of the pickup trucks for sale today lack a diesel engine. In fact, only one mid-size truck with a diesel engine is available at this point.
Trucks like the Ram 1500, Ford F-150, and Chevy Colorado have discontinued the diesel engine option in recent years. Although diesel trucks often come with more torque and can add to fuel economy, most people seem to shy away from them.
Perhaps this is because diesel engines can sometimes be more expensive to run or because truck drivers in this segment prefer petrol. Nissan clearly does not see the point or profit in the offer at this time.
Is the diesel Nissan Titan a good truck?
Accordingly, the Nissan Titan with a Cummins turbo engine is not a good truck. Mechanical, utility, and a few other issues resulted in this full-size little car being one of the worst new cars (at the time) that the publication had ever driven.
At the same time, I’ve heard from people that they love the Titan with this powertrain. Indeed, while they can understand why the Titan isn’t as popular as some of the other trucks on the market, the hate seems unjustified.
But in the end, most of the industry views the Cummins turbodiesel Titan as a failure. Even if it has a Cummins badge and that unique sound that is a diesel engine. And for now, it looks like Nissan has plans to kill off its full-size truck. While Frontier got a major update for 2022, it’s dying a slow death.
