Keep in mind guys the F-150 will have to be significantly better than the Toy or Nissan...why? Because all of these publications seem to have a warm spot in their heart for anything Japanese. I pay little heed to how American manufacturers fair against the Asians in publicity. It is apparently hip to praise the Asian brands. I agree they do a nice job on quality, but I have a feeling that the Japenese brands are heavily lining the pockets of the magazines in this country.

It is time to be American, eat, sleep and buy American...I don't care where cars/trucks are made! if the company's HQ isn't in the USA it is not and never will be "Made in the USA".

 

Bighersh:

Why is ford the only one whos going to loose sales to Nissan. If I were a Chevy or a Toyota guy, I would definitly be looking at Nissan or Ford rather than thier fugly trucks. I think itll all level out and Ford will remain on top. And win that dumbass award. JMO.

 

Tough call IMO on MT Truck of the Year. But I don't believe any of the manufacturers will lose out disproportionately to the Titan. It will take it's sales equally from all other makes I think, but also perhaps much of it's sales will be from people currently driving Japanese compact trucks trading up to a fullsize. Some sales will be pulled from other fullsize, while others will be new buyers entering the market for the first time, increasing the total size of the pie.

The 2 new trucks do look startingly similar, it's obvious who Nissan's benchmark was for this truck. I think Ford's biggest worry should be GM. While Silverado/Sierra together outsell Ford, not by a lot, neither one could outsell Ford by itself. And both Ford and GM will keep their fleet sales I'm sure, which probably makes up a larger percentage of sales than you might think. Plus they have the strength of huge dealer networks, every town has Ford and GM, but not everyone lives near to a Nissan dealer. But GM's pickups have been in production 5 years now. After that length of time, they have a lot of room for their deep discounting given that the cost of the '99 models must've been long paid off by now.

Now as to whether Ford can sell 1 million a year now? Tough to say, that's a fair increase in market size, they'll have to lure alot of buyers in not only from other trucks, but also those who have never owned a truck before. Possible to do though. IMO the new Ford is a very nice truck, perhaps better looking in and out than the GM trucks. It would be a tough call for me if I was in the market for a new truck this year between Ford or GM. Time will tell what the new truck drives like though. I can hardly wait until they arrive in town to see.

 

If Ford doesn't outsell the Titan then they have big problems. Nissan is only planning on building 100,000 Titans next year.

 

I know-

I never said Nissan was gonna challenge Ford in sales. I said I thought Nissan would/could cannibalize enough sales from Ford to let Chevy sneak into the sales lead.

Yes, I believe The Titan will cull some sales from Chevy, GMC, Dodge & Toyata as well- but in the styling, ergonomics & power categories- it's clear to me that Nissan had the F-150 in mind when they designed the Titan, so I think folks that like the Ford's appearance- will look at the Titan as well.

Nissan won't lure Bubba, or any die-hard Chevy, GMC or Dodge fans- But for the millions of truck drivers, like me- who drive trucks because they like 'em, not because the need 'em- they'll look, and may buy the Titan.

The Titan isn't as pretty (Yes I said Pretty) as the Ford- but, it's not very different. It's not ugly. That's like saying Rene' Tennison's twin sister is the ugly one.

Alpha-T, yes- that was ugly. This Titan is nowhere near that hideous...

The trucks look alike in more ways than they are unlike, except for the grill. Interior ergonomics are almost identical- it's like they spied on each other. Only time will tell- Hopefully, this post'll still be around then. Then, I'll either enjoy my full plate of Crow-delight. Or, be able to come here and say, "I told you so".

 

What's "Ugly" about this?


Imagine this thing with chrome step rails, dual chrome exhaust tips, and tint... Chrome rims...

 

What's "Ugly" about this?

Look at it from the front, I wouldn't wanna be caught anywhere near that thing. I'll have to remove all the mirrors in my truck once the Titan hits the street to make sure the view of the Titan doesn't crack them. That truck is hideous.

 

What about the Ram, do you think it's ugly too?

I think it's the best looking truck on the road- IMHO. I like the SCrew's too, and I think hte new SCrew will win back to beauty title- but, as of today- truck-wise, that Ram is the hottest thing on the road....

 

http://www.config.nissanusa.com/Disp..._scrollPos=761

 

What did you think on the prices of them? King cab 4x2 base $25900-$41020 for a loaded 4x4, and $26300 base 4x2 Crew to $44220 fully loaded.

 

What's UGLY? What's UGLY?????

How about what's nice?

No, out of all seriousness, the new Titan is going to be a contender but will not outsell Ford by any means.

Things I like about the Titan:

1) American-like HP/TRQ engine
2) Nice interior (even though they stole it from ford just like Toyota)
3) Looks off-road worthy


Things I hate:


A) Those buldges? What are those there for? If you looked at the truck from a bird's view it would look like an hour glass. A little flare is one thing, but those things look like wings. Look how they make the hood really wide, but only retract into the body in the middle. Why did they need such buldgy wheelwells?

B) Lesson A of car designing school... Continue the same lines throughout the vehicle. Don't just through a huge jut in here and there. You'll end up with a BMW Z4 in no time. No seriously though, why do the taillights tilt down. Why not straight? Make them aerodynamic looking is one thing, but tilted is another. There is not another line in the entire truck that has that angle. It's like the taillight just wants to pop out and say "HEY! I'm a TAILLIGHT. SEE MY GLORY!"

C) That roofline is miserable. It doesn't flatten out until the very end of the Supercab. Looks better on the crew cab, but thats only because the cab is longer. If you want to have a long rake to the windshield, thats fine. Long rakes in things like windshields give a powerful look to a truck, but you must start it farther up on the hood then. I don't want my truck looking like the cab is a ski slope. Again: "I'm a ROOFLINE. SEE MY GLORY!"

D) Compartment in Tailgate. Good idea...bad place. #1, that handle is hideous. You want to make that compartment semi hidden but you make the handle stick out like a white man in the million man march. What gives? (No racism meant there...)
And if you are going to make it stand out, why not do it on both side. Trucks look good with symmatry (sp), not with random stuff thrown in just because it sounds neato. Color coordinate that handle and make the compartment less obvious. It would have been smarter to somehow build the compartment into the bed...not the lowest part of the tailgate.

NOT SHOWN:

E) The cab is much smaller, especially the SuperCab back seat than the F150. Not only that, but the truck doesn't really look fullsize to me. I don't mean because of the pictures, but it's not boxy enough to look fullsize. Maybe its because the large wheelwells make the middle look tiny. But you have to admit, the interior is smaller, even though it is nice. Too much small truck feel even in a big truck.

F) Why in the HELL did they put that huge plastic thing around their tailgate handle? Why? It's hideous. It looks okay on the smaller trucks, but they made it twice the size just because they stepped it up to a fullsize. Again, it doesn't follow any lines. It's just stuck on there. See: "I'm a tailgate handle, hear me roar!"


----------
I can't find anything else to rag on it right now. I would like its engine though. And Nissan usually has very long lasting vehicles...usually.

 

Although I love Ford, I guess I'm a bit partial to Nissan.

I love the Maxima (Had one before I got my first Ford) and we've also had a pathfinder and an Altima. So, unless Nissan's fallen off the wagon, the reliability is going to be great.

I think the F-150 is a better looking truck- but I also think that Motor Trend will give the Titan truck of the year honors because innovation carrys big in that arena. Too much of the Ford is carry over, or re-heated. 4.6L carries over with no additional HP and the 5.4L only gains 40 HP, in a segment where it's rivals have 300 - 345.

I like the flares on the titan (Then again, I love the Flareside F-150 (current) that's what made me fall in love with the F-150 in the first place- flareside extended cab 4x2.) I wish the SupreCrew had a longer tailgate w/available flares. I don't like the 2004 Ford's 'bolt-on' looking flares.

Yeah, that storage kit would have been better inside the tailgate , or on the rear-most edged of the bed- rather than on the exterior. (Titan)

I can't rag too tough on the tail lights. I think they're cool- and the whole idea is to be innovative- not conforming.

I'd prefer color-keyed mirrors over chrome. (Ford & Nissan)
I like the F-150's a-la F-250 styled front windows. I hope the @$$ on the 4x2 isn't as high as the one pictured above.

But honestly- Tell me that black Titan isn't a good looking truck! I wish I could have found a picture of a black 2004 SCrew, facing the same direction- but above- the Black Titan looks better than the blue SCrew.

I get X-Plan on Ford's and through the VPP, I can get a discount on Nissans to invoice + 4%, plus I know the Finance MGR's at 1 Ford Dealership & 2 Nissan dealerships- so I'm just waiting to see what these trucks look like in person.

 

At least Nissan is using BFGoodrich. I wish ford would do that.

 

Although, I could do without the Arizona-Beige trim....
The only thing that looks good on black, is black...... or dark grey.

 

Yeah, those are good tires...

I have Goodyear's on mine now (Aftermarket).

I don't know what the 'HE double hockey' sticks Ford was thinking about, putting those General Grabber tires on the F-150 & Some other General tire on the Expy. I whipped them off my Expedition so fast, I can't even remember, I put about 1,000 miles on the ones on our SCrew, and about 4,000 on the ones that came on my first F-150- the SCab Flareside, each time upgrading the Goodyear Eagle GT-II's, and Eagle L's respectively.

I refused delivery of my Expy with the Firestones on it, so I had a choice between Generals & Firestone. I knew I wasn't gonna keep 'em, but if I ever traded my Expy, I didn' want to put Firestones back on it. I had the Generals on the Expy for about 10 rain soaked miles. (Put my GT-II's on it, harvested from my SCab.) Now, I have 8 'new' tires in my garage.

You couldn't give me a set of Firestones....
I guess Nissan learned too because our Pathfinder LE came with some Bridgestones on it. Our Pathfinder was a 3.3L 4x2, driven by my wife, on road only. With 170 HP on tap, you couldn't spin those tires on ice. Within 10 months, ratating every other oil-change (6,000 miles) those tires were nothing. We had less than 10,000 miles on the truck. About the time we were looking into getting new tires Nissan announced a recall on the Pathfinders, something to do with the tires. We took the truck in and the Nissan service department manager said that was "normal' wear & tear and would not replace the tires.

I went across Preston Rd. to Sears to got a set of BFGoodrich in 255/60/15's replacing those 'girly-man' 235/60/15 Bridgestones. When we traded the truck in 26 months later, those BF's STILL looked darn-near new, with no noticeable treadwear.

That was the ONLY problem we ever had with that Pathfinder- but I can't fault Nissan for the tires performance- only the choice o use those tires.