Earlier this month, Nissan announced that it struck a deal with the Chrysler Corporation to allow them to produce the flailing Titan truck model. The truck would be made at the automaker’s plant in Mexico. But the question on everybody’s lips is this:
Is the Nissan Titan going to get the popular Hemi V8 engine, too?
Currently, the two companies are still hammering out those two details. William J. Krueger, Nissan’s North American vice president of manufacturing, admits that Chrysler has made huge investments in the Hemi brand. He went on to say that Chrysler might not be ready to share that brand with any other trucks or vehicles just yet.
Nissan wanted Chrysler to build the Titan on the Ram chassis because that would “broaden the number of configurations for the Titan, which is currently limited to a single engine.” And even though Chrysler hasn’t officially agreed to throw in a Hemi, these pickup trucks are still going to have access to Chrysler’s V6 engines.
Chrysler’s Titans should be hitting your local Nissan dealer in 2011. It’s going to retain much of the original Nissan design, including the Nissan-specific sheet metal and other features that loyal customers would recognize. We’ll keep an eye on this story and let you know if either company ever makes an official statement about the Hemi.
