Nissan closes Frontier in Brazil after 45% drop in sales in 2025

The current generation of the Nissan Frontier has been discontinued in Brazil. According to the Motor1.com Brasil website, which reported the closure on August 29, the medium pickup is no longer on the list of new vehicles on the brand’s official website. The replacement is already defined: the Frontier Pro, a plug-in hybrid developed in China.

The exit had been designed since the end of 2025, when Nissan ended production in Santa Isabel, Argentina, and transferred manufacturing to Mexico. The commercial performance explains the rest: in 2025 the Frontier registered 5,091 registrations, a drop of 45% over the 9,258 units in 2024. In the same year, the Toyota Hilux closed with 49,721 units, the Ford Ranger with 34,047 and the Chevrolet S10 with 31,451.

In 2026, with stocks dwindling, the pace collapsed. July ended with 34 units, less than the 42 of the BYD Shark in the same month.

Substitute comes from China

The Frontier Pro is produced by Zhengzhou Nissan Automobile, a joint venture between Nissan and Dongfeng, and derives from the Dongfeng Z9. It is not an evolution of the pickup that leaves the scene. Units were spotted at the Port of Santos, in February, for testing and homologation, and in April Nissan confirmed the model in the expansion strategy for Latin America.

The set combines a 1.5 turbo gasoline engine and electric propulsion, with more than 400 hp and about 81,6 kgfm. According to the manufacturer, the battery allows up to 135 km in electricity alone by the Chinese cycle. It is 5,5 m long, 1,96 m wide, 1,95 m high and 3,30 m wheelbase, with electromechanical locking of the rear differential. In the cabin, 10-inch digital instrument panel, 14,6-inch multimedia and V2L function of up to 6 kW.

The Frontier that says goodbye kept the 2.3 biturbodiesel with 190 hp and 45,9 kgfm until the end, with a seven-speed automatic transmission and 4×4 traction.

Medium pickup trucks on the way to electrification

The change takes place in a segment in transition. BYD Shark was the first to bet on the most electric turbo set with all-wheel drive in the country, still with a discreet volume. The next Volkswagen Amarok will also be electrified, under a project by the Chinese SAIC. For Nissan, the bet involves regaining relevance in a niche where it lost half of sales in a year, with a product with no technical relation to the pickup truck that Brazilians knew.