Nissan Won’t Bring The Terra To The U.S., Cites Safety Standards And Customer Expectations

Customer expectations and strict safety requirements are keeping the new Nissan Terra away from the United States.

These were the words used by the vehicle’s lead designer, Masato Takahashi, as quoted by AutoNews when he was asked whether the body-on-frame SUV has any chance of reaching our shores.

The Nissan official admitted that the Terra’s size “is very nice for the U.S. market”. Nonetheless, it would be very difficult to sell it here, because this is “one of the toughest [markets], not just because of crash tests, but also because of customer expectations”, he explained.

With this comment, Mr. Takahashi nixed the rumors that Nissan might eventually launch the Terra in North America and other Western markets as a successor to the discontinued XTerra. Thus, the new Terra will remain on sale in Southeast Asia and China, where it’s already available for grabs as of earlier this year.

Unveiled at the beginning of 2018, the new SUV can be had with up to seven seats. Depending on the market, customers get to choose between the 184 PS (181 hp / 135 kW) and 251 Nm (185 lb-ft) 2.5-liter petrol engine from the Navara, or a 2.3-liter diesel that puts out 190 PS (187 hp / 140 kW) and 450 Nm (332 lb-ft) of torque.