After discontinuing the Xterra ten years ago, Nissan may be reintroducing the SUV to the North American market. On December 23, 2024, the company submitted an application to the USPTO for the name “Xterra”. The application was sent on the same day that Nissan and Honda announced their plans to merge to form the third-largest automaker in the world. As the rest of us ate Christmas cookies for breakfast and hoped Santa wouldn’t notice, Nissan was quietly asking for a new trademark on the word “Xterra.” A post with the application can be found on Reddit’s r/cars area. It was sent to the USPTO on December 23. According to Nissan, the trademark should be used on “motor vehicles, namely, automobiles, sport utility vehicles, and structural parts, therefore.” The application lists two trademarks that have already been approved for the name “Xterra.” The most current one was submitted in 2003. The first trademark covered the exact writing on the car, but the latest application is for the term Xterra in “standard characters, without claim to any particular font style, size, or color.” According to the USPTO website, the application is approved for use until August 31, 2027. Since 2021, Nissan has sold cars in the Middle East under the Xterra name, but not in North America since 2015. The Xterra sold in the Middle East is based on Nissan’s Navara pickup truck for the world market. However, the Xterra that was sold here from 2000 to 2015 was based on the ladder frame of the Frontier truck. To bring the Xterra back to life, the company would have to enter the very competitive 4×4 market in North America. However, it does have other choices if it wants to. Nissan could stick with the model based on the Navara or go back to the tried-and-true Frontier model. The recent news that Nissan and Honda want to work together makes a third choice more likely: an Xterra based on the Honda Passport. We need Nissan to bring back the roof-mounted storage box no matter what they do.
