Japan quake delays redesigned Nissan Titan until 2014 model year

The March earthquake in Japan has forced NIssan to delay the introduction of the revived Titan pickup until the 2014 model year.

The quake required a redeployment of engineers to get Nissan production back into operation, says a top Nissan executive.

"We will come out a little later now," Andy Palmer, Nissan Motor Co.'s executive vice president for vehicle planning and program management, told Automotive News during the Los Angeles auto show. "I made the decision."

The natural disaster disrupted Nissan's supply chain and hindered production at Nissan plants around the world. Faced with the need to get the system back up as quickly as possible, the company had to marshal engineering groups.

The decision pushed back the Titan schedule. He declined to say exactly when the new generation of the full-sized truck, which had been planned as a 2013 model, would go on sale.

The new Titan has had a rough road to market.

Nissan decided in 2008 to outsource the next Titan to Chrysler Corp., which agreed to build a Nissan-designed truck in Mexico. Under that plan, the Titan would have reached Nissan showrooms this year.

But the arrangement fell apart during Chrysler's 2009 financial meltdown, and Nissan unexpectedly had to bring the project in-house.

By Lindsay Chappell- Automotive News