Build Your Own Titan
Well, virtually anyway. Log on to Nissan USA's Web site (www.nissanusa.com) and you can play with a vehicle configurator that will allow you to "build" your dream Titan fullsize pickup-choose exterior and interior colors, select options, and so on. You can also find your nearest Nissan dealer, who will be glad to help you make the dream a reality once the truck goes on sale at the end of the year.
What fascinated us was that Nissan assigned prices to the vehicles and the option packages, though it will be months before the company makes any sort of official announcement of the truck's costs. Fine print on the site explains that the dollar values are there "only to simulate the actual selection process" and that final model and option availability, as well as vehicle pricing, will become available at the truck's launch. Still, we think it gives you a ballpark as to where Nissan is going with Titan prices. Otherwise, why put the info there, right?
On the site, base prices for the King Cab pickup start at $25,900 for the XE model and rise to $32,100 for the top-line LE, which has amenities like leather interior, 18-inch wheels, and a premium sound system as standard equipment. Those prices are for 2WD trucks; when we turned the two-by XE into a 4x4, the base rose to $29,000.
Likewise, base prices for the crew-cab 2WD Titan ranged from $26,300 for the XE to $33,000 for the LE.
It looks like Nissan will offer all kinds of options for the Titan, from captain's chairs to a sprayed-in bedliner. As we went through the configurator, though, we kept our option choices to a minimum, selecting only the off-road package. The $1,040 equipment group (again, that's just a cost estimate) includes Rancho shocks, P285/70R17 BFGoodrich All-Terrains on alloy rims, skidplates, tow hooks, lower axle ratios (how low wasn't indicated), and the "late availability" of an electronic locking rear differential. Choosing the off-road package meant also getting the XE Preferred package, which included a six-CD in-dash sound system and sliding rear window. Excluding destination charges, our relatively low-content virtual Titan cost $31,220. We'll have to see how the virtual translates into the actual in a few months.
Land Rover Introduces Two G4 Challenge ModelsLike the idea of Land Rover's G4 Challenge but not quite up to the rigors of the actual event? You can at least drive vehicles similar to those used in the competition, now that LR has introduced G4-Edition versions of the Discovery and Freelander.
Both limited-edition vehicles are painted in the Tangiers Orange color used by the G4 Land Rovers, and both feature distinctive brushbars up front, light covers in back, and special roof-rail treatments. Mechanically the G4 Rovers are similar to their standard counterparts.
The G4 Freelander will be available this summer and priced below $30,000, says Land Rover. The G4 Disco will come out in the third quarter of the year and will cost under $39,000, according to the company.
Envoy XUV May Be Delayedby Tornado Damage
A report in Automotive News said General Motors' new SUV launch may be delayed because of tornado-inflicted damage to the Oklahoma City manufacturing plant.
Production of the new truck, with an Avalanche-like midgate and a roof panel that opens over the cargo area, was slated to begin this fall. But a tornado that hit the plant in early May caused extensive damage that could take weeks to repair, said a GM spokesman.
Plane Crash Kills Moser Engineering ExecutivesGreg and Marianne Moser, who founded the axle-making company that bears their name, were killed in a light plane crash in May. Jeff Bickel, Moser's plant manager, and his wife Eileen were on board the plane with the Mosers and were also killed in the crash. As of this writing the cause of the accident had not been determined.