On the chopping block: Nissan Terra SUV discontinued 2027?

Nissan Terra: Strong in the Philippines, but not anywhere else

Sad news for Nissan fans: according to our regional contacts who are very knowledgeable about Nissan’s plans for the future, the Nissan Terra is on the chopping block.

Yes, Nissan’s popular 7-seat SUV in the Philippines is supposedly being planned for discontinuation, and there is no new generation model being developed... at least not yet. 

We can venture several guesses as to why. One is perhaps the major shift towards electrification. Another is perhaps the focus on smaller and lighter crossover models. But we think the simplest reason is perhaps the likeliest: low demand.

In the Philippines, that’s not the case. Filipino customers are very receptive to 7-seater PPVs or pickup passenger vehicles. That definitely reflects with the Terra: it’s the second best-selling model of Nissan in our market. From January to June 2023, 2,322 units of the Terra were sold; that accounts for a 12.6% share in its class, and about 17.6% of Nissan’s total sales in the Philippines. For the record, the Navara is currently the best-selling model in the Nissan Philippines lineup.

The main issue is that the Terra isn’t selling too well in the other markets.  In Thailand (where the Terra is made), the model isn’t lighting up the sales charts; actually, the Philippines is outselling Thailand when it comes to Terra. Their taxes also means the Terra -despite being a Thai product- is priced at THB 1,199,000 (roughly PHP 1.93M). Over in Indonesia, the story is the same; actually, the pricing there is even more expensive as the Terra starts at around  PHP 2.75M.

China also has the Terra, but they assemble it there. And unit sales are not outstanding. Australia could have had the Terra, but they never pushed through with the model despite the potentially strong reception for such an SUV there.

This lack of demand in many markets in the region seems to be the rationale for the Terra’s potential discontinuation. Of course, that may change later on, but unless there are significant sales from the Terra in other markets, the model will likely be axed with no turbodiesel successor in sight.

That won’t necessarily be a bad thing though; Nissan is ideally poised to expand their crossover offerings with their e-Power technology. As to what vehicles, we’ll find out later on. There is also news about the next Navara, but we’ll finish that up at a later time.