Ford Bronco Will Battle Nissan Xterra Hybrid In 2028: Report

Nissan dealers have been asking that automaker to bring back the Xterra - a boxy, off-road-focused SUV from the recent past - since the day the Ford Bronco returned for a sixth-generation in the 2021 model year. That still hasn’t happened, but as Ford Authority reported this past January, Nissan did recently file to trademark “Xterra,” and this past August, a report surfaced claiming that the SUV would indeed be returning in 2028. Now, we're learning a bit more about the forthcoming Nissan Xterra revival.

According to Bloomberg, the new Nissan Xterra will be built at the company's existing plant in Canton, Mississippi, and it will utilize a V6 hybrid powertrain, news that comes straight from Christian Meunier, chairman of Nissan Americas. “The dealers are super excited about it because it’s going to be a great example of Nissan coming back,” Meunier said in an interview, adding that the SUV will “bring scale back to the plant and get the costs at the right level.”

On top of that, Meunier also revealed that the next-generation Nissan Xterra will share a platform, its hybrid powertrain, and various other parts with the mid-sized Frontier pickup, the Pathfinder, Infiniti QX60, and another potential Infiniti SUV that could be an upscale version of the Xterra, too. In any case, these moves are aimed at helping the automaker circumvent tariffs while also adding capacity to its underutilized Canton plant as it shifts away from EVs, in general.

As for the Xterra's rival, the Ford Bronco, it has yet to receive a mid-cycle refresh or redesign since the sixth-generation model debuted for the 2021 model year. As Ford Authority reported in August, the SUV won't be getting any sort of proper refresh either, aside from gaining new special editions and variants. However, it is reportedly expected to receive a more comprehensive redesign in 2029, which could debut for the 2029 or 2030 model year.