The big talk surrounding the all-new 2016 Nissan Titan pickup has focused on the Cummins diesel powerplant in the Titan XD, a 5.0-liter V-8 kicking out 310 hp and 555 lb-ft of torque. But what about the design? We wondered how a brand approaches redesigning a truck that barely changed in a decade, so we spoke to Diane Allen, a 30-year Nissan vet and Nissan America’s chief designer, to get the details.

Where did you start with this new design?

Diane Allen: What we wanted to do was, we wanted a whole new look that’s fully capable, full size, no doubt about it. We needed to give it more of a power feel. We needed to take it up a notch, a couple notches. When we got the specs for this engine and realized what it meant to the shape of the front, we had to get a fresh start. The nose of this XD is 175 millimeters longer, 85 millimeters higher than today’s Titan.

Did you want to make it look like a diesel truck?

DA: We wanted to make it look like a true work truck. We’ve always been a play truck, but with this design we wanted to honor the new power and capability.



Some folks see a resemblance to the Ford F-150 in the new Titan.

DA: I think they’re looking at the dipped belt. To be honest, the sheetmetal beltline and bed are up substantially. To package the footprint of the mirror on the glass and have proper engineered scale, we had to keep the bottom of the mirror position. That’s why the glass dips down to maintain visibility to the mirror. There’s no copying, that was a pure engineer-driven thing.

We have a big robust body-side bone; we have real fenders that come up and dive down. This was designed and pretty much done before the Ford was revealed. You have to get to that point so they can make tooling, enlist suppliers, so our design was well done before we saw the Ford reveal. But if you stand side-by-side between the two, there’s no way you’ll think they look similar.

Ours is a more anatomical feel. Ford’s is more flat. And there’s a very interesting chamfered nose on ours, so the cross-car read is very interesting to look at. It’s got this nice power bend, and with the grille standing up next to it, it has a hardware feel to it. When you see this vehicle driving, because of these great cross-car reads and the stance of the vehicle, it’ll look like it’s moving even when it’s parked.



Your design portfolio includes the 350Z and the 370Z, among others. Is there a common design language that connects the Titan to those other Nissan vehicles?

DA: As a designer you’re a method actor. You have to get into the world of that segment. Z was more fashion-driven, where a truck person, you’re a workhorse but you want a beautiful horse. There’s a different design language. I don’t think you take Z stuff and put it here.

What’s your inspiration for this design?

DA: We’re a small design team, so the interior and exterior design teams got together to brainstorm, “What is Titan?” All of a sudden you started seeing things on the sketch wall: Gladiators, scenes from 300, warriors. We started to think, “We are titans.” That stylized “T” logo is designed after a warrior’s mask. We’re not cowboys, we’re warriors, and this whole front end is inspired by a warrior mask. There’s a huge muscle going down the body side, and biceps and leg muscles over the wheels. That’s the fighter in the Titan. The domestics do a more architectural design style. We’re more anatomical.



How does that exterior design language carry over to the interior?

DA: The idea of the form is very solid, you have this pad running across the instrument panel. There’s a form language that has the strength, that power read. The chrome bezel vents on the perimeter by the doors, you own that space. It’s got a confident stretch to it. Look at the shape of the seats, it repeats that “mask” look. The seats are framed by the console and the door, and it owns the space.

It’s a power read, just like the power reads on the outside, the intent was to get that power read on the inside. And that motif of the mask you’ll see throughout.

Any Easter eggs in this design?

DA: You can see the embossed “Titan” script on the grille, but on the cap and the gate you see a debossed “Titan” script. On the bulb shield [of the standard, non-HID headlights] you also see that script, as well. On the running board near the B-pillar it says “Titan.” On the crew cab, in the back cup holders, it says “Titan”—”Titan” is everywhere.

We noticed that each truck on the stand has a different wheel design. Can you tell me about that?

DA: We have five grades: Work, SV, SL, PRO-4X, and Platinum Reserve. Every one has its own separate wheels. The wheels on the SL, we call the Wrench. It has this big, tool-like form language, looks like a big wrench, while the PRO-4X looks like a ninja star. The Platinum Reserve is my favorite, I call that wheel “the Death Star.” These aren’t official names, but they’re nicknames that the teams developed along the way.

What’s your favorite part of this design?

DA: I think the stance, along with the character lines over the wheels, is a favorite part of the design for me. It’s a real powerful read. And then I love to see the front clip. The personality changes between the different grades. The PRO-4X looks like a power tool, while the Platinum Reserve has all that dark chrome. And the SL has the most jewelry with the bright chrome.

Who did you design this truck for?

DA: Because of this unusual engine and powertrain, it’s not a [half-ton] class, it’s not a [three-quarter-ton] class. That extra towing and payload capacity is a unique position. That guy who wants that bigger boat can get this and be confident driving it. It’s gonna appeal to guys who tow, haul things, who need that extra capacity, but don’t want to step up to a [three-quarter ton].

The design has a modernity to it, that puts it in a different class. It’s for guys who don’t want to be a cowboy, don’t want to be a ranch hand. It’s a more techy, more modern design language.



Is it tough to break out of that traditional cowboy truck image?

DA: We’re Nissan, we can’t be cowboy. We’re the warrior, the future-warrior. We have to push it so it doesn’t look nostalgic. Nostalgia design looks like copycatting older trucks. We had to find our own design language, our own front stare. It can be a full-size truck without being over-the-top stylish.

How much did the design change from concept to production?

DA: To be honest, this body side, with the character lines, is right in the original sketch. The only thing we ended up tweaking was how long were they, how deep they go down, the position of that “bone” on the body side. I could show you the sketch, and that’s it on the stand. We had to move fast: In order for us to make [the deadline], our design phase was crunched. We went from sketch to full-size clay in two months. And that’s a lot of clay to move.