Filed under: Crossover, Nissan, First Drives
Finding A New Path To Success
Despite the fact that the term "crossover" has proliferated throughout the automotive market, there still isn't a clear definition of what, exactly, makes such a vehicle. And perhaps that's by the very definition of the word itself - a crossover can refer to anything that blends various elements of well-established genres. In the automotive market, crossovers carry traits of not only sport utility vehicles, but family sedans and minivans, as well.
Case in point: We'd never call the truck-based body-on-frame Cadillac Escalade anything but an SUV, but does the unibody Jeep Grand Cherokee, which offers better off-road capability, really count as a crossover? Most would say no. The line between these two classes is blurred and Nissan can be held partly to blame for the confusion, having switched its Pathfinder "SUV" back and forth between body-on-frame and unibody platforms twice now. The completely redesigned 2013 Nissan Pathfinder finds itself back on a unibody platform, sharing that distinction with the second generation that was sold from 1996-2004.
It's with this in mind that we can't wholeheartedly agree with Nissan's branding of the new Pathfinder as a "next-gen SUV." Oh sure, it's a more modern offering packed with features never before found in the rugged vehicle that Nissan has offered since the mid-1980s, but is it truly an SUV? Moreover, do buyers even care about such classifications these days?
Oh, heck. The SUV is dead. Long live the SUV!
Continue reading 2013 Nissan Pathfinder
2013 Nissan Pathfinder originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 22 Oct 2012 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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