Nissan Aims Titan at Detroit Big Three, Tries to Gain Credibility With U.S. Truck Owners
CANTON, MS October 20, 2003; Barbara Powell writing for the AP reported that Nissan's hulking new Titan won't be marketed with a three-word slogan like, say, "Built Ford Tough" or "Like a Rock."
And viewers of the first television ads may have a hard time figuring out what the Titan looks like, because of all the splattered and flying mud.
But make no mistake. When the first Titans rumble off a Mississippi assembly line Tuesday, it will take aim at the bumpers of Ford, GM and Dodge's big trucks.
Downplaying the appearance of the Titan in the initial TV blitz is a deliberate gamble by Nissan. The 15-second spots feature full-screen white letters on a black background proclaiming hefty towing, horsepower and torque statistics. Later, 30-second spots will give viewers a better look at the vehicle.
The Japanese company is acknowledging that, in the high-stakes game with Detroit for the loyalties of big-truck lovers, it has to gain credibility.
"You've got to show you've got the goods," said Rob Schwartz, executive creative director of the agency behind the Titan's ad campaign.
It will be no easy job. U.S. truck owners are not fickle.
"I don't need to try something new," said George Oberhausen, owner of a 1997 Ford F-150 and store manager at Obie's Chevron in Clinton. His previous cars: a Ford Ranger and a Ford Bronco.
"I'm a Ford guy," he explained.
Oberhausen's nephew, Tommy Oberhausen, who manages the shop at Obie's Chevron, owns a 2000 Chevy Silverado four-by-four truck. But he is impressed by Titan's hefty specs.
"I'd go look at one," he said. "It's got a tow/haul mode so when it gears down, it's like a standard and gives you longer shift intervals."
The Titan's debut is the final stage in Nissan's attempt to be perceived as a full-line U.S automaker. The Japanese company's new Canton plant, where the Titans are being made, also produces a revived Quest minivan and its first full-size SUV.
The truck is the vehicle that will most directly draw the ire of The Big Three, whose dominance of the 2.3 million, full-size truck market is their bread and butter. While Japanese manufacturers have made major gains in the market for passenger cars, trucks remain a U.S. staple.
"The Titan is taking on an aura of more importance because it's the first time we've taken on the dominance of the Big Three in a huge market," said Emil Hassan, senior vice president of manufacturing, purchasing, quality and logistics for Nissan North America Inc.
Industry analysts say the Titan's massive proportions -- 9,500 pounds of towing capacity and 5.6-liter V-8 -- and sleek design should ensure Nissan meets its first-year sales target of 100,000.
But analysts differ over where those buyers will come from. Even Nissan officials are hedging their bets.
The Titan, which offers a king- and crew- cab version but no regular cab or stripped-down V-6 model, will more easily attract buyers who get a truck for its appearance, rather than out of need, automotive marketing consultant Art Spinella said.
Spinella said the Titan will have less luck with contractors, farmers and ranchers and RV enthusiasts loyal to the Ford F-Series, Chevy Silverado and Dodge Ram. The Titan doesn't have a super heavy-duty line or the diesel engine that some buyers demand, he said.
"I don't think they understand the full-size truck market yet," said Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research in Bandon, Ore.
Nissan chief product specialist Larry Dominique estimates 30 percent to 40 percent of Titan buyers will be Nissan loyalists and as much as 20 percent of sales might be stolen from the Toyota Tundra. But he says Nissan must attract domestic truck fans.
"Easily 30 percent to 40 percent of sales will have to come from domestic purchases," Dominique said.
Ray Vrscak, president of Nissan's National Dealer Advisory Board, says dealers will have an easier time going after Toyota Tundra sales. "I don't think we'll go head to head with Ford and Chevy initially," Vrscak said. "It's too expensive to chase those guys."
Nissan has sent production test models of the Titan out to dealers for show-and-tell nights with prospective customers.
Spinella predicts the Titan will ignite a fierce battle at the local dealer level. "Wherever a Nissan store puts on a "Come and take a look at Titan" promotion, you will see Ford and Chevy sales and more advertising in local markets to drown out Nissan," Spinella said.
Ford Motor Co. is breaking sales records with its redesigned F-150 -- the most popular U.S. vehicle for more than two decades -- and with hefty discounts on its 2003 model. General Motors Corp. is offering huge incentives on its refurbished Silverado. And the Toyota Tundra, maligned because it was too small, is debuting a bigger, four-door Tundra truck.
Industry analyst George Peterson said the domestics will be busy aiming their market assault at each other, and that may create a market opportunity for the Titan.
"And I think if they can get the hard core truck guy into the dealership, they (Nissan) will have a fair chance," said Peterson, president of AutoPacific, an automotive marketing and product consulting firm in Tustin, Calif.
Nissan is still conducting pricing clinics, and won't announce Titan's pricing until mid-November. "We're starting to analyze data from pricing clinics, but that target could move," said Jed Connelley, Nissan's senior vice president of U.S. sales and marketing.