Nissan to Stop Building Quest, Armada and Infiniti QX56

Nissan has announced that it will stop producing the Quest minivan, Armada and full-size SUV and its Infiniti sibling the QX56 when the Mississippi factory they’re made in switches to building commercial vehicles in early 2010..

The company has confirmed it will build not said if it will build future versions of the slow-sellers they just don't know where. The only word from Nissan is that final decisions have not been made, but there is the “intention” to build them.

“When we get to the end of each vehicle's cycle, we look at the market,” a spokesperson said. Sounds to us like company speak that Nissan will not build new versions of the three two. If it actually announced that fact today, though, it could impact sales of the 2009 models that will still be built and sold on new-car lots.

All three Both vehicles were either aging in their segment or poor performers, so seeing them go probably won’t hurt Nissan, which has seen better success with new smaller offerings like the Versa and the Rogue compact SUV.

What do you think? Would the Quest, Armada and QX56 be missed?

Nissan plans to change Mississippi plant's focus (USA Today)

Comments

I thought that the next-gen Quest and QX56 were to be built in Japan - perhaps there won't be replacements?

I have a lot of good will for the Quest; it's one of the quirkier minivans out there, but it's got a lot of great features and perhaps the lowest step-in height of any minivan, making it a good choice for grandparents who have to cart their grandkids around (like my mother-in-law). As for the other two, I think it's probably time for them to retire.

The fact is that most minivans became absolete and stopped selling well, when Odyssey and redesigned Sienna came out. In addition to that fact, Quest came out with that crazy dash design, which threw even more potential buyers off. Also, where is the split folding third seat? fuel economy also hit it hard.
It was obvious that new Sienna and Ody simply better choice for same or less money.
And today it is too late. All big cars sell slow. This is it for most minivans. Only Ody, Sienna, and may be Dodge will sell some. But even Dodge will not hold its minivan image. Few more years and they will be in the same boat. Unless someone will come out with very fuel efficient minivan.
Look around. No more GMC, Ford, Mazda minivans. It is all done.

I think they will me missed by some. I do have to give kudos to GM and Ford for having no projection of ending production of the Tahoe/Suburban and Expedition, respectively. To me, this is a sign that they are the market leaders in this segment.

Good riddance to those ugly SUV's, they made me lose respect for Nissan, and I will be very happy to see them go.

There is room to grow. The company can indeed expand its lineup by offering its first three row crossovers as they are currently in trend. I still don't see why comsumers want to gulp gas for styling or showoff reasons. It doesn't make sense. But the Quest on the other hand does indeed deserve a major reworking and can still sale. It can't always be style over function. Both the Armada and QX56 are big and powerful but buyers are seeking a more efficient alternative. Maybe its time to bring in the diesels or buckle up for hybrid powertrains.

Perhaps Nissan needs to reinvent the Quest as a smaller, diesel power/ fuel efficient minivan, like the Mazda5 or slightly larger... Because there might be a market for smaller, but more fuel efficient people haulers out there... especially in the global market.

Nissan is introducing a 7 seater Qashqai in Europe. I would imagine this will be in the US in the near future. Look for a lot of large SUV and minivans to become extinct in the near future.

I'm glad the QX56 is going -- IMO, they should never have produced that giant piece of ugliness. The Quest isn't all that bad, though reliability has never been a strong suit of any of these vehicles.

won't miss them. but with the cafe rules getting harder and the price of gas and other things like people buying fx over qx, is a good idea. better to start from scratch with another model or giving up the segment than spending millions of adapting.

DT,

If I’m reading this correctly, the Armada survives since the Titan will still live on and both models just recently underwent a mild refresh, but the QX56 did not, and share many more parts in common as oppose to the Infiniti. Too bad the Quest did not become a super high tech minivan since it looked a bit more futuristic with those sharp angles than the others in the market.

I never likes the quest so I am not sad to see it go. I think thay should make a Nissan Pathfinder based Infiniti luxury SUV and discontinue the larger more gar guzzling QX56.

The strike-through is unnecessary.

The intention to shift Quest production back to Japan has been covered previously. Given the concept vans that Nissan has shown, you can be pretty sure that they'll take one last stab at it.

For reference, here is a snippet from at July 2006 Automotive News article discussing the move of the Quest back to Japan

Nissan North America Inc. will decide soon whether to yank the Quest out of U.S. production and build it in Japan. The problem: Low sales have turned the Quest into a niche vehicle.

First expected to sell 80,000 to 90,000 units a year in the United States, the Quest now is forecast to sell about 40,000. In 2005, 40,357 Quests were sold.

Niche vehicles are becoming common in North American auto plants. But the Quest's setback creates a hole in Nissan's production plans. Nissan's big plant in Canton, Miss., builds the Quest and four other nameplates, with total production plans for 400,000 vehicles a year. With lower Quest sales, Canton would have 50,000 units of excess capacity.

One solution under study: Move the Quest and build a higher-volume vehicle in Canton.

One Japanese chassis component supplier that planned to supply the next-generation Quest in a U.S. plant said the decision to build the minivan in Japan is a "done deal."

I still got to think the economies of scale of part sharing have to be hurt when they get rid of these SUVs. I am really thinking about the Titan. Carla Goshen has already hinted the Titan might be on its way out since its not generating enough sales a couple years ago. I think that the Quest is over but can be replaced by a non-traditional people mover. I think mini-vans as a category are morphing into cross-overs anyhow.

Hey guys. Sorry to take so long to respond we've been dealing with some technical issues.

Nissan contacted us to clarify what the USA Today article said. The Armada is still planned to be built in the factory. The other two have no plans as of yet but the company stands by the fact that there will be next generations of both.

HOWEVER, at KickingTires we do like to interject our own experience dealing with the industry. We've seen over the years that no company will ever comment on future products being shelved while current ones are on the market. They think it will impact current sales. All three vehicles have been flawed from the get go in terms of reaching their intended markets and long term sales. It would make a lot of sense to us to use the current market as an "excuse" to shelve them.

Hey, these cars are not for everyone. They have great appeal to me. I like the edgy stying queues, and I do not follow the Jones', ever. Oddly I bought BOTH of the cars being cancelled, and are still being driven by me. (I assume the strike through means that the Armada is not on the chopping block) They both are reliable, well powered and very well handling cars.

Although I bought both of them when gas was sub-$2/gallon. But that is the fulcrum, by which the market is now pivoting. Nissan has not been a leader in green technology. Had gas stayed cheap, Nissan's business model would still be right-on. Now the balance has shifted to more fuel efficient cars, similar to the way it did in the early 1970's.

All makers are looking for the golden place that the Prius takes up. Instead of being seen as a maintenence headache, and a very short run specialty car; the Prius is mainstream, reliable, well supported, and I have to admit "fun to drive".

GM is getting a Hybrid Denali/Tahoe. We also need to think of getting diesel hybrids. We will still have options for moving all of the kids to the ski slopes, with their gear. I am just waiting the makers to put the components together (efficient/LEV diesel engines, hybrid technology, weight reduction) before I replace my Nissans.

Tony,
Did GMC ever have a minivan?

Mazda's MPV is dead, but the Mazda5 still lives on.

Ironically, today I saw a bunch of oversized tanks / Armadas today, more than I have ever seen. Thank god they are stopping production of these giant pieces of crap.

J,
GMC had Chevy Astra minivan and its sibling GMC Safary. Then, just a year or two back they had Saturn/chevy/Buick trio. One was Relay... I don't even remember their names. Pontiac Montana, Chevy Lumina, and some other... GMC had many, many minivans with same result - they all sucked.
Ford had Aerostar, windstar and then latest ...star.

Now, J., Get married, make some children and buy Mazda5. and I will see.
Mazda5 has nothing of the minivan, only doors. I remeber my wife driving 1987 Nissan Stanza wagon. That car also had sliding doors but no one called it a minivan. There also was Nissan Access, which had sliding doors. The idea is not new. But minivans are for carrying people and stuff. Mazda5 doesn't do neither.

I've just seen pictures of the new QX. From the look of it it seems to be based on the next generation Nissan Patrol. How does one post photos here?

These are the 8 minivans that were pulled out of market in the last 2 years.
Freestar, Villager, MPV, Venture, Montana, Relay, Terraza, Entourage.

I am not surprised that Nissan is pulling out Quest. Minivans are on the decline. They are still very functional vehicles with 8 seater facility and lot of trunk space. But every family does not need one. Its enough if just the rental companies offer it.

As for the Armada & QX56, yes the Truck based SUV's are on the way out with their sales down 70% compared to their peak sales a few years ago.

Soon, Sequoia, Expedition like vehicles may follow.

Time to reduce gas consumption.