It’s that there aren’t that many Titan buyers in the first place.
It’s not that Titan buyers dislike the diesels - as Automotive News reports, roughly one in eight Titan pickups sold, and roughly half of all Titan XDs, are diesel-powered. But the decision to ax the diesel motor is telling: An oil-burner from a brand like Cummins was supposed to be a coup for Nissan, a way for it to make headway in a market that heavily favors trucks built by American manufacturers. Given that most pickup buyers seem to view their trucks as crossovers with beds in the back, the discontinuation of the single cab variant is not a total surprise. Also on the chopping block: the Titan single-cab. The Nissan Titan XD diesel pickup, which packed 555 lb-ft of torque and a theoretical towing capacity of 12,830 pounds courtesy of a 5.0-liter Cummins turbodiesel V8, will be discontinued for the 2020 model year, according to a report by Automotive News.
