Nissan isn't about to veer off its chosen path anytime soon, as seen by the barrage of new SUVs the Japanese brand has recently released. Taking up the largest chunk of real estate is the massive Armada, a military fleet unto its own. More recently Nissan unveiled its next-generation Pathfinder, a smaller, more athletic looking variation on the Armada theme. Smaller still is the brand's latest SUV offering, the completely redesigned 2005 Xterra.
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| At first glance the new Xterra looks just like a smaller version of Nissan's full-size Armada SUV. (Photo: Nissan Canada) |
Nissan chose to debut it in downtown Manhattan on the evening before the first New York International Auto Show press day. So there it was, covered in mud and perched high atop a makeshift rocky crag. Two New York "campers" were set up just underneath, tent up and sleeping bags out in the open, while onlookers sipped wine and snacked on appetizers and cheese plates at Morrell's Wine Bar & Café just underneath Rockefeller Plaza.
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| From the new Xterra's profile view it's easy to see the distinctive styling cues that still make the outgoing version so popular. (Photo: Nissan Canada) |
Its entrance to the show itself was even more spectacular. A muddy Xterra charged out onto a stage only to be showered off on its turntable. As it seems, automakers reserve this final major event of the season for those special cars, trucks and SUVs that deserve a little extra attention. Nissan turned up the jets and attention it got.
And I'm glad they did, as the vehicle everyone came to see looks similar enough to the full-size Armada SUV, at least at first glance, that I needed a double take to put it into its much smaller perspective. Larger than its predecessor, the new "compact" SUV is still tiny compared to the XXXL Armada it takes much of its design language from. On that thought, however, Nissan is making no excuses about giving its trucks and SUVs a familiar familial resemblance, the Xterra being the last to conform since the upcoming Pathfinder was revealed earlier this year.