NASHVILLE, TN – Nissan Motor Co. may sell a lower-price, less powerful version of its full-size Titan pickup truck as early as next year to increase sales to small U.S. business fleets, according to Bloomberg News. Nissan unveiled modified Titans with new interiors and a long-wheelbase version with a truck bed as long as eight feet at the recent Chicago Auto Show. More affordable versions are being studied, including one with fewer accessories and another with a V-6 engine. Currently all Titans are powered by V-8 engines.

The least expensive Titan now has a base price of $23,700, according to Edmunds.com, an automotive data Web site based in Santa Monica, Calif. General Motors sells work-truck-style versions of its Chevrolet Silverado pickups for as little as $15,840, excluding incentives, according to Edmunds.com. Ford’s lowest-price F-150 is $18,275 according to Edmunds.com.

When the Titan went on sale in 2003, Nissan touted it as the largest, most powerful Japanese pickup in the United States.

According to Nissan, "the article is purely speculative, and as policy we don't discuss our future product plans," said Katherine Zachary, manager, Corporate Communications for Nissan North America, Inc.