A Nissan exec has reaffirmed that the next-generation Pathfinder could be a proper body-on-frame SUV. There’s already pretty solid confirmation that Nissan will be bringing the Xterra back from the dead with a BoF architecture. That design could spawn several more model ladder-frame models, like the Frontier, Pathfinder, and maybe an Infiniti-branded luxury SUV.
At the LA Auto Show yesterday Nissan SVP Michael Soutter told The Drive that it would be “logical” for the Xterra to be first in a “family” of body-on-frame vehicles. For the past two generations the Pathfinder has been a unibody crossover, but when asked if the era of a BoF Pathy was in the rear view mirror, Soutter said no. The Drive also writes that, according to Soutter, “the Pathfinder name should stand for capability, not carpool duty.”
However, it’s not going to happen overnight. “Once we get the Xterra going and we’re looking at a family of body-on-frame vehicles, and we have the frame capability here in the United States, and we localize the production, and we have that kind of scale that makes sense, then I think you can see a lot of interesting things happening with our lineup.”
That’s a lot of caveats, but it makes sense for Nissan. Off-road-capable vehicles are popular as ever, and Nissan has had some real bangers in its past. With a compact XTerra and a Patrol-based Armada bookending the lineup, it could rival big players like Toyota and Ford in the 4×4 segment.
On a personal note, Soutter also mentioned his own love for the Pathfinder when he was younger. “I mean, [the Pathfinder] is one of the Nissan vehicles—of course, the Z was something that gets all the kids’ hearts going, but really the Pathfinder, that was my aspirational vehicle, having that body-on-frame.” He also emphasized that it would not be a crossover decked out with rugged trim like the Honda Passport Trailsport or the Ford Explorer Timberline.
Few nameplates have bounced back and forth between unibody and body-on-frame architectures as much as the Pathfinder. The original 1987 WD21 was designed at Nissan’s southern California studio and based on the D21 Hardbody pickup platform. It quickly became a beloved favorite in the early days of the SUV boom.
For the second-generation in 1996, Nissan switched to a unibody construction in the R50 and its Infiniti QX4 twin, but maintained rugged styling and mild off-road capability. The R51 third-generation introduced in 2005 went back to BoF, sharing a platform with the D40 Frontier. The R52 and R53 generations, launched in 2013 and 2022, respectively, went back to unibodies and fully embraced their crossover-ness without any pretense of venturing beyond the mall parking lot. It seems that Nissan has finally seen the light, and hopefully this switch to BoF will be the last one the Pathfinder ever makes.
