Renault is trying to appeal to Apple pie eating America with the all-new look Nissan Frontier which is scheduled to go on sale in the USA in September. It’s fair to say the previous generation Frontier resembled run down outhouse with no plumbing. But the 2022 Frontier looks like an American pickup truck and gad-damn it, it belongs on an American freeway. The styling is a little bit over the top for a Nissan. On appearances alone, it looks as though Nissan designers used images of Ford F-150 to stick onto their mood boards. And it looks as though the only design decision taken was to make the Nissan logo bigger because the Frontier looks like a copy/paste effort.

Nevertheless, the Frontier will retail from $27,840 in the USA. It’s available in a two-door King Cab or the four-door Crew Cab. Power is supplied by Nissan’s 3.8-litre, 310bhp 381Nm (281-lb ft) V6 which is mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission. The Frontier is configurable in rear and four-wheel-drive. Optional extras include the $990 Technology Pack, which adds rear auto braking, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot warning, lane departure warning, and a rear sonar system.

Other optional extras include the $1,990 Convenience Package which is only available on higher-spec model trims. The key highlights are heated side mirrors, heated steering wheel, heated seats, a 120Volt outlet, and a  trailer hitch. The $2,790 Premium Package adds a leather interior, LED Headlights, daytime running lights, and a premium 10 speaker audio system.

However the Frontier is up against formidable competitors. To make matters worse Frontier sales have dropped from 79K annual sales in 2019 to 26K sales thus far in 2021.

As a comparison, the Ford F150 sold 850K units in 2020.