GENEVA -- Commercial versions of Nissan's next-generation Titan pickup will be aimed at the Chevrolet Silverado 2500 and Ford F-250 pickups.

The new Titan pickup will debut as a 2009 model. It will be developed on Nissan's re-engineered platform for full-sized trucks. The current Titan competes with the Silverado 1500 and F-150 pickups and is limited to two models: the King Cab and Crew Cab.

The Titan engineered for commercial applications will be "heavier than we have today; more substantial," Jed Connelly, Nissan's senior vice president of sales and marketing, said at the Geneva auto show.

It will be a truck that requires a "diesel application and some other things," he said. But he said that Nissan will not offer a heavy-duty model in that time frame to compete with the Silverado 3500 or Ford F-350 Super Duty pickups.

Diesel coming
Francois Bancon, a manager in Nissan's product planning division, said here that the commercial models of the Titan will offer a diesel engine. The diesel supplier has not been determined.

Although a diesel is a requirement for the re-engineered Titan, a six-cylinder engine to create a lower-priced model is not. The 2006 Titan pickup comes standard with a 5.6-liter V-8. The base Silverado and F-150 come with a V-6.

"I'm not sure we are likely to have a six," said Bancon. "Do we need to expand the number of powertrains for the Titan if we have a diesel? We need to make that decision."

He said limited sales volume for a six-cylinder engine may not justify offering that engine.

The commercial versions of the Titan will be aimed at "smaller fleets, three to five trucks, plumbers, carpenters, those type of entrepreneurs," said Connelly.

Sales miss target
The Titan has failed to meet sales expectations. Nissan sold 86,945 Titan pickups in the United States in 2005. Nissan officials said they were aiming at 100,000 annually.

Connelly admits the sales target was probably too lofty, considering the Titan's model range.

"We chose not to complete with regular cab or V-6 models because we wanted to go for the heart of the market, where the margins were best and where the growth was, and that was King Cab and Crew Cab," he said.

"So when you start netting out the places where those vehicles fall, our share is not so bad."

But, he said, Nissan was able to establish the Titan as "a very competent truck" and minimize incentives.