Nissan rounds out the launch of its second-generation Titan lineup by revealing the new king-cab model today at the 2017 Chicago auto show.
The Titan king cab, with rear-hinged back doors, goes on sale this spring and will be offered with many of the same options as the truck’s crew- and single-cab body styles, including with an extended-length bed and 2- or 4-wheel drive.
It will be sold in base and midgrade trims S, SV and PRO-4X, lacking the luxury-like SL and Platinum Reserve grades of the crew cab. The automaker appears to be targeting those who use their pickups for work more than grocery-getting.
“It’s a real workhorse like the new single cab, but with more flexibility to stow equipment and other valuables,” Fred Diaz, general manager-North America Trucks and Light Commercial Vehicles for Nissan North America, says in a statement.
While Nissan touts wide-opening rear doors for easy entry and exit from the second row, it also allows the back seat and rear heat duct in the king cab to be deleted upon ordering, a setup “ideal for commercial use” thanks to the addition of a flat load floor and a rear wall finisher with tiedown hooks.
Half-ton Titan king cabs will come standard with the automaker’s 5.6L gasoline V-8, while the king-cab XD offers a choice of the gas V-8 or a Cummins 5.0L V-8 turbodiesel.
The 5.6L is rated at 390 hp in both half-ton and XD Titans, while the 5.0L diesel peaks at 310 hp in the XD.
“Properly equipped,” maximum towing is 1,640 lbs. (744 kg) in half-ton king-cab Titans and 12,510 lbs. (5,674 kg) in XD king-cab diesels. Max payload reaches 9,420 lbs. (4,273 kg) in the former and 2,710 lbs. (1,229 kg) in the latter, but with the gas V-8, not the diesel.
A 7-speed automatic is paired to the gas V-8 in both half-ton and XD king cabs, while the diesel is mated to an Aisin 6-speed auto.
Inside, S-grade buyers get a front split bench seat, while the SV offers optional bucket seats. Buckets are standard on PRO-4X models. Heated front seats are an option on SV and PRO-4X Titan king cabs, with heated and cooled front seats available on the PRO-4X model.
Standard technology includes a 5-in. (13-cm) touchscreen in S and SV grades or a 7-in. (18-cm) touchscreen in PRO-4X models. The larger touchscreen is an option in the SV king cab.
The PRO-4X also has standard voice recognition and navigation, the latter paired with the NissanConnect infotainment system.
A Nissan official last month told WardsAuto that with the king cab in market, the automaker will be better equipped to pursue its target of 100,000 annual sales of the truck.
Titan sales rose 80.2% in the U.S. in 2016, WardsAuto data shows, although the truck’s 21,880-unit tally was a fraction of the volume of Detroit Three fullsize pickups. Ford sold 763,907 copies of its F-Series in 2016, making the model the leader in both the large-pickup segment and U.S. light-vehicle sector.
Sales of gas-engine Titans were slightly higher (11,665) than those of the diesel model (10,215).
Nissan has been launching variants of the fullsize pickup since December 2015, when the Titan XD ¾-ton crew cab model went on sale.
The half-ton model, and single-cab body styles of both the XD and half-ton Titan, followed last year.
