Despite being old as dirt, the Nissan Frontier still outsold the Ford Ranger after its first few months of sales.
The last time the Nissan Frontier saw a redesign was way back in 2004, making the Frontier the oldest pickup truck in America. Nissan does have a third-generation sold internationally as the Navara, but since it’s technically smaller than the Frontier, Nissan USA decided not to adopt it for the American market.
Despite its longevity, the Frontier soldiers on with solid sales year after year. This might have something to do with the fact the average Frontier sells for just under $30,000, while the average midsize sells for $32,800, according to Automotive News.
However, the Ford Ranger is a brand new midsize pickup with a ton of technology and even more performance. It should demolish the ancient Frontier. And yet, according to Motor Trend’s analysis of first-quarter 2019 sales, the Frontier beat the Ranger “by a huge margin.”
In the first three months of 2019, the Nissan Frontier sold 20,221 units. The Ford Ranger? Just 9,421 units.
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Both trucks are still way outclassed by the segment leader, which is the Toyota Tacoma at a healthy 58,183 units sold. The Chevy Colorado is still second at 33,494 units, while basically tied for last is the GMC Canyon and Honda Ridgeline at 6,955 and 6,952, respectively.
To be fair to the Ranger, it’s pretty typical for a new vehicle to sell poorly in its first few months of sales. We’ll see how the Ranger will really stack up after it reaches the 2nd quarter of 2019. It’ll also be interesting to see how the Jeep Gladiator sells once it finally hits showrooms later this spring.
Things might soon turn around for the Nissan Frontier. A recent report stated that Nissan is finally redesigning the Frontier by updating its powertrain and giving it a new “futuristic” body. It’s not set to arrive until September of next year, however, so we’ll have at least a year to see how the Ranger performs against the current Frontier.