• Nissan will build the new Xterra in the US with a body-on-frame platform.
  • Both V6 and hybrid V6 powertrains will be offered for the new-gen SUV.
  • A new teaser by the brand’s CEO reveals the silhouette of the rugged, tall Xterra.

Nissan recently confirmed the long-anticipated return of the Xterra, previewing the rugged SUV with a single brief teaser video last week. While many questions remain about the new model, Nissan has revealed it will be surprisingly affordable, positioning it to establish itself as a proper rival to the Ford Bronco and Jeep Wrangler.

Shortly after Nissan said the Xterra would be revived, Nissan Americas chief executive Christian Meunier revealed to journalists that prices would start at under $40,000. As Meunier noted, “We’re at a time when the average transaction price in the US is $48,000, and it’s non-sustainable…[Nissan is] going to bring an Xterra below $40,000.”

Read: Nissan Killed The Xterra Eleven Years Ago. It Just Teased Its Return

Speaking with CarBuzz, Meunier acknowledged that Nissan has lost its way in recent years, noting that the new Xterra will bring everything shoppers need and won’t add technologies that are not necessary.

A Simple Off-Roader

The New Nissan Xterra Will Start Under $40,000

“We’ve lost our way a little bit,” Meunier said, “putting a lot of technology for the sake of it, adding a lot of features and cost to our cars. We’re going to stop doing it. And Xterra, I think, is going to be the symbol of this… [Nissan] is going to bring an Xterra with everything you need, nothing you don’t, which is the slogan that was used in 2002, which we believe is right for the brand.”

Underpinning the new Xterra will be a body-on-frame platform that will be used by a slew of other models. We know Nissan will sell the SUV with V6 and V6 hybrid powertrains and that it will be manufactured in the US, likely at the same Mississippi plant as the current Frontier.

A new teaser for the Xterra, published on LinkedIn by Meunier, provides an interesting preview of the SUV. Pictured in a desert, it sits tall and upright just like a Bronco and Wrangler, and includes a spare wheel on the tailgate. It could give the Nissan brand the emotion it’s been lacking in recent years.