no second-row bench or heating ducts, but rather a flat rear load floor. King Cab is available in S, SV and Pro 4x trims.

Fred Diaz, general manager of Nissan’s truck division, comfortably sat on a lowered King Cab tailgate during a laid-back auto show media preview press event in February. Prior to helping launch the Gen Two Titan, Diaz oversaw Fiat Chrysler Automobiles spin off its Ram truck division from the Dodge group in late 2009.

“Titan gained about 1.6 points of market share (since the launch of the 2016 Titan XD). We’re almost at 2 percent market share,” Diaz said. Prior to the second-generation redesign, Titan’s U.S. market share hovered below .5 percent.

Top trim Platinum Reserves remain the sole trim offering an optional, exterior Titan Box, a novel idea Diaz brought along from his days at Ram Trucks (which offer a Ram Box). A lockable storage container extends along the interior bed side (with handy bottom-side drain plug) capable of swallowing a wide range of supplies or beverages. It’s also removable if extra bed capacity is required.

Last September, Nissan sponsored an outdoor dealer training event at the Odium multipurpose venue in Villa Park, inviting select media and other assorted guests. Experiential road-course opportunities included drives over a bundled set of logs, zero-to-60 trials and simulated rock crawls, all of which Titan handled with grace and ease.

Nissan assembles Titan in Canton, Mississippi.