The demise of the single cab type is not entirely unexpected given that the majority of pickup truck buyers appear to perceive their vehicles as crossovers with beds in the back. An oil-burner from a company like Cummins was expected to be a coup for Nissan, giving it a chance to gain traction in a market that overwhelmingly favors vehicles made by American manufacturers. However, the decision to scrap the diesel powertrain is telling.
Nevertheless, the pickup market is so large that, provided the product in question satisfies some unmet demand, even little niches have the potential to be lucrative. As we’ve discussed in prior truck evaluations, the problem with the Titan XD diesel is that it didn’t really succeed at achieving that.
As we noted earlier this year, the XD diesel trades off much of the refined ride and opulent accoutrements we’ve grown accustomed to on modern trucks in exchange for “nearly, but not quite, the capability of an HD truck in a somewhat, but not too much, smaller compact.”
The Titan XD basically falls between full-size and heavy-duty vehicles. While the diesel V8 gives the truck a lot of power, it also adds significantly to the price and the curb weight of 7,323 pounds. With the exception of the Cummins name, the Titan XD diesel didn’t have much to offer the typical buyer given the tremendous capability of today’s full-size gasoline-powered trucks. Evidently, that wasn’t enough.
However, it is a measure to how competitive the pickup industry is that Nissan is reevaluating its Titan lineup in the face of a market that still, at least for the time being, can’t get enough trucks.
Gordon Kozak
For as long as he can remember, Graham Kozak has been enamored with automobiles (probably before that, too).
In This Article...
Nissan will discontinue the Cummins diesel engine in the Titan XD in 2020.
- The Drive claims that Nissan will reduce the lineup of Titan pickup trucks for 2020.
- The Titan XD with the Cummins diesel’s final production run will take place in December 2019, a Nissan representative has confirmed to C/D.
- Both the Titan and Titan XD regular-cab variants will also be discontinued.
In December 2019, Nissan will stop producing the Titan XD with the 5.0-liter Cummins diesel V-8. According to Nissan spokesperson Wendy Orthman, the Titan and Titan XD regular-cab models will also be discontinued as part of the 2020 update, which will be unveiled later this year. This is allegedly an effort by Nissan to “concentrate on the heart of the truck market.”
In an apparent attempt to close the gap between half-ton and three-quarter-ton pickup trucks, the XD diesel model was created. However, the diesel XD became an answer to a question that we assume few pickup-truck customers were asking due to its poor performance figures, tow ratings comparable to half-ton trucks, and significant price premium over the gas engine (the XD with its 5.6-liter V-8 will continue for 2020). Nissan does not release sales data for the diesel motor explicitly, but the company sold 52,924 Titans in 2017, 50,459 in 2018, and 20,268 until July 2019.
During our lengthy evaluation, we had a bad encounter with a Titan XD powered by a Cummins engine. Within 40,000 miles, our long-term 2016 Titan XD left us stranded twice. We did not enjoy the diesel clatter, hunger for diesel exhaust fluid, or the powertrain’s general lack of smoothness while it was running. However, Nissan claims that the decision to discontinue the diesel was not influenced by reliability difficulties.
To maintain the Titan’s competitiveness in the truck battles, Nissan still has its work cut out for it. The Silverado and Sierra from GM are new for this year, the F-150 from Ford is still going strong, and our favorite, the Ram 1500, is the sweetie to beat. Even Toyota is releasing a new Tundra soon. Later this year, we will learn more about what the Titan’s 2020 update will entail.
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In memoriam a Cummins
After four years of manufacture, the Nissan Titan XD Cummins is no longer available. Beginning in 2020, Nissan’s full-size truck won’t be able to be powered by the Cummins turbodiesel 5.0-liter V-8. It’s an attempt to stop the brand from bleeding. Nissan recorded a 44.6 percent decline in operating profit from 2017 to 2018, while sales of the Titan were down over 25 percent for the first six months of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018. These sales totaled just over 18,000 vehicles. Ford sold approximately 450,000 F-Series vehicles during the same time period.
From the sincere, no-frills D21 Hardbody of the 1980s and 1990s to the current Frontier, a truck that found 39,322 homes in the first half of 2019 while being mostly unchanged since its 2005 debut, Nissan’s trucks have always leaned in the opposite direction. However, the pickup market has shifted in favor of expensive, high-margin trims. The decision has left purchasers without anywhere to invest their money if they want a straightforward, affordable work vehicle. The XD Cummins made an effort to close the distance. Its failure to capitalize more on what made Nissan trucks popular in the past may have been its biggest error.
We are used to seeing models and trims come and go, but the loss of the XD Cummins feels different since it was a terrific truck that was plagued by a market that was developing quickly. It appears to be another development in the pickup’s transformation from a reliable workhorse to a typical commuter. What a shame.
Why is the Titan diesel engine the subject of a class action lawsuit?
However, a class-action lawsuit regarding the placement of the exhaust fluid filler tubes has now been filed. It claims that doing so may result in the unintentional spilling of exhaust fluid into diesel fuel tanks. Diesel fuel and exhaust fluid cannot be combined. By doing so, the fuel may get contaminated, causing harm throughout the fuel system. This has nothing to do with engine flaws.
Additionally, the lawsuit claims that exhaust gases enter Titan cabins in a different matter, according to Carcomplaints. All Cummins 5.0-liter model years from 2016 to 2019 are covered by the complaint. Owners have taken their pickups to dealers, but they were informed the trucks were in good condition.
A number of technical service bulletins are cited in the case. This, according to the article, shows that Nissan was aware of these problems yet unable to fix them. Nissan learned that some owners unintentionally filled the gasoline tanks’ filler necks with exhaust fluid. In 2018, a TSB was released.
The Five Most Regular 5.0 Cummins Engine Issues
The Nissan Titan XD diesel truck introduced the 5.0 Cummins engine in 2015. The Titan XD, with 310 horsepower and 555 lb-ft of torque, was created to bridge the gap between heavy-duty quarter- and full-ton diesel pickups and half-ton gas trucks. The towing capability of the Titan XD with the 5.0 is 12,830 pounds.
The 5.0 Cummins was discontinued after the 2019 model year due to high installation costs, numerous engine problems, and a limited advantage over gas trucks for towing. In addition to the engine’s depressing mechanical issues, Titan sales in general were extremely poor, especially when compared to its Ford, GM, and Dodge rivals. Sales of XD were extremely low, providing insufficient advantages over gasser vehicles, which led to its termination.
The 5.0 Cummins is a 90-degree V8, in contrast to the 5.9L and 6.7L traditional inline-6 Cummins. The 5.0 ISV has certain features in common with the Dodge truck engines, such as aluminum alloy cylinder heads and a compacted graphite iron block, despite having a separate design.
Nissan Titan XD is an aggressive middleweight.
For aficionados of Nissan trucks, there is some good news: Nissan is getting ready to release an updated Titan XD despite the discontinuation of the diesel option. However, the manufacturer is not yet ready to provide specific information about what the changes might include. The vehicle now only has a 5.6-liter V8 gasoline engine with 390 horsepower and 394 pound-feet of torque.
The soon-to-be-gone Nissan-specific Cummins 5.0-liter V8 turbodiesel engine generates 310 horsepower and 555 pound-feet of torque. The gasoline engine can tow 1,010 pounds less than the diesel engine, according to the manufacturer, when configured as a crew cab.
We don’t know if Nissan considers the diesel engine to be a market success. Nissan declined to provide any estimates of the volume of Titan XD diesel pickups it has sold over the years since the company does not provide sales data for specific engines or build options. The best indication of how customers felt about the engine option is perhaps the fact that the Cummins is departing the market after such a brief time.
Nissan’s most recent sales report reveals that as of July of this year, the corporation has only sold 20,268 Titan cars overall. Comparatively, the brand sold 27,271 Titan units at this time last year, a decrease of 25.7% year to date.
What caused Nissan to discontinue producing Cummins?
Diesel IQ reports that the 5.0 Cummins was “retired after the 2019 model year due to the high expense of retrofitting the 5.0 Cummins to the Titan, paired with various engine difficulties and the low hauling gain over gas trucks.”
Nissan stopped utilizing Cummins when?
The Nissan Titan offered the two types of engines that the majority of truck purchasers were seeking for, the 5.6-liter V8 and the Cummins 5.0-liter diesel, both of which were initially released in 2015. The diesel was later discontinued in 2019. It appeared strange at the time because the diesel engine performed better than any Nissan engine in terms of performance and torque. Additionally, it was one of the market’s cleaner diesel engines.
Is Dodge getting rid of Cummins?
Since 1989, Dodge has continued to offer Cummins engines in its heavy-duty Ram pickups. Dodge Ram trucks split off into their own brand called Ram for the 2010 model year. A heavy-duty pickup or chassis-cab with a Cummins I6 has always been available from Ram.
Dodge Ram trucks had started to lag behind the competition by the late 1980s. Throughout the 1980s, Ford and General Motors both marketed diesel pickup trucks. Many owners of pickup trucks immediately switched to diesels since they were more potent and economical to operate than the V8s of the day.
Dodge then got in touch with Cummins. Production of Cummins’ 6BT turbodiesel I6 was starting. The manufacturer had designed the 5.9-liter engine for industrial and agricultural uses, so it’s possible that Dodge’s decision to use it in a pickup truck caught them off guard. But after years of research and development, Dodge created a Ram vehicle that was strong enough to support the large, potent engine.
In 1989, Dodge offered their first Ram pickup with a Cummins engine. The pickup vehicle became popular right away. Years passed before Dodge could keep up with demand. Cummins redesigned the 6BT in 1996 to produce 200 horsepower. The engine’s torque eventually surpassed 500 lb-ft in the 2001 revision.
A new 6.7-liter engine was installed by Cummins in 2007 to replace the outdated 5.9-liter I6. 350 horsepower were produced by this Cummins I6 turbodiesel version. Additionally, this engine’s high-output model from 2019 and beyond produced 1,000 lb-ft or more of torque.
The Nissan Cummins’ dependability?
Overall, there are many problems with the Titan XD’s 5.0 Cummins engine. The majority of the engine’s primary parts, including the heads, block, internals, etc., appear to be strong and hold together well, but the rest of the engine does not. The block and other significant engine parts were made by Cummins, which is probably why they don’t frequently have significant problems. All of the primary engine systems that are troublesome on these trucks’ engines were designed by Nissan.
The Titan XD’s emissions control systems are all troublesome, turbocharger failure is known to occur far too early, the fueling system has problems, the transmission is terrible, and so on. Apart from these significant engine issues, the XD was lacking from the outset. The engine only delivered 1,000 lbs. more towing capacity than its V8 gasser equivalent despite being nearly a $10,000 boost. Additionally, compared to its Dodge, GM, and Ford rivals, the ride quality, interior, and overall driving experience were noticeably worse.
Even while we think the 5.0 Cummins engine is a highly robust and durable engine in terms of itself, the 5.0 found within the Titan XD cannot be regarded as dependable. We believe that the block, heads, internals, and other components will all last for more than 300,000 kilometers. We do not, however, believe that a Titan XD with a 5.0 Cummins engine will achieve even a fraction of that mileage without requiring tens of thousands of dollars in maintenance and repairs along the way.
The fact that Nissan no longer supports these engines is another important justification to avoid them. All of the diesel truck mechanics at the dealerships have since been fired because they no longer provide this engine or any other diesel trucks.