Nissan is playing off the massive hype surrounding the total solar eclipse by introducing three new Midnight Edition trucks for 2018: the Titan, Titan XD, and Frontier. Not surprisingly, the trucks are blacked out from hood to hitch with black interiors and several popular add-on features included. Not only does this tie in perfectly with today’s celestial event, it complements Nissan’s huge success with the Midnight Edition treatment on its other vehicles, which are said to sell twice as quick as standard models.

Billy Hayes, Nissan’s division vice president for North America sales, said, “Following the tremendous response to the original Maxima SR Midnight Edition, we’ve created a complete portfolio of the popular blacked-out Midnight Edition look among our core Nissan sedan, crossover and SUV models. We expect the strong customer appeal to continue with the expansion of the Midnight Edition package to our Titan, Titan XD and Frontier pickups.” Nissan isn’t the only automaker doing well with special edition models boosting sales. Chevrolet is killing it with special editions like the Redline, Rally, High Desert, Custom Sport HD, RealTree, Special Ops, Alaskan, and Black Out editions. Oh, and Chevy also has its own Midnight Edition with a blacked-out appearance, too. Ram also plays the game, offering its Ram pickups with the Limited Tungsten, Subline Green, Copper, Night, Rebel Black, and Rebel Mojave Sand editions. Hayes followed up by saying, “A great custom look straight from the factory is what buyers really appreciate. We’re finding that buyers in the millennial age group especially are attracted to the Midnight Editions. Last year, Nissan was ranked as the number one brand for millennial purchases.”

Speaking of purchases, the Titan, Titan XD, and Frontier Midnight Editions will go on sale starting in the late fall of 2017. Pricing has yet to be announced. For the full details on the trucks, keep reading below.

What Makes these Midnight Editions Different?

It’s not hard to figure out what the Midnight Edition’s theme. The all-black look isn’t just the paint color – that’s because Nissan offers the Midnight Edition in three body colors: Magnetic Black, Gun Metallic, and Pearl White. The real changes are the blacked out grilles, smoked headlight housings, black side mirrors and door handles, black side steps, and black wheels.

2018 Nissan Titan & Titan XD Midnight Edition

Those wanting the Midnight Edition on their Titan or Titan XD will be limited to the Crew Cab with the SV or SL trims. The Titan XD Midnight Edition gets even more specific by necessitating the 5.0-liter Cummins V-8 turbodiesel and 4WD. (The half-ton Titan Midnight Edition comes with the 5.6-liter gasoline V-8 and in either RWD or 4WD.)

As mentioned, the Midnight Edition Titans have a black front grille with black mesh, smoked headlight housings and fog light surrounds, black side mirrors, black door handles, and black side steps. The front and rear bumpers are also painted in the body color, meaning the only visible chrome is on the Nissan badges. All other badges and trim pieces are also black. The Titan XD’s front fender vent gets the murdered-out treatment, too. About the only exterior surface not blacked-out are the large taillights. Both the Titan and Titan XD roll on 20-inch, alloy wheels finished in – you guessed it – glossy black paint.

Not much changes inside the Titan and Titan XD Midnight Editions. The biggest change are the Midnight Edition embroidered floor mats, otherwise, the SV’s cloth seats and SL’s leather seats are black, along with the carpet and dashboard. Nissan calls the color Charcoal.

2018 Nissan Frontier Midnight Edition

The Midnight Edition on the Frontier requires the Crew Cab in the SV trim and automatic transmission. Both RWD and 4WD can be optioned, along with the three exterior colors choices of Magnetic Black, Gun Metallic, and Glacier White.

Regardless of all else, the Frontier Midnight Edition package comes with a gloss black grille, semi-gloss side steps, black side mirror caps and door handles, and black badging. Like the Titans, the Frontier’s Midnight Edition comes with body-color bumpers, meaning they are pained the same color as the rest of the body and therefore nearly eliminating all the exterior chrome. The Nissan badges, non-smokes headlights and taillights, and lug nuts are the only shiny bits. The Frontier Midnight Edition rolls on blacked-out, 18-inch alloy wheels.

The Frontier’s interior receives the same changes as the Titans’ – meaning embroidered floor mats with the Midnight Edition logo. Otherwise, the interior is the standard “Steel Cloth,” a medium gray color.

Pricing

Nissan has not released the prices for any of the Titan, Titan XD, or Frontier Midnight Editions. It did, however, hint that the Midnight Editions are “expected to provide customers with a significant discount versus if the items were purchased separately.”

Before selecting the Midnight Edition, the 2017 (previous model year) Nissan Frontier SV V-6 with the five-speed automatic transmission in RWD starts at $26,910. The 2017 Titan Crew Cab SV in RWD starts at $38,370 while 4WD pushes the price to $41,400. The Titan Crew Cab SL in RWD starts at $46,830 and $49,910 in 4WD. The 2017 Titan XD SV with the Cummins in RWD starts at $45,750 and $48,730 in 4WD. Opting for the more expensive trim, the 2017 Titan XD SL in RWD starts at $54,210. Getting 4WD makes the sticker jump to $57,240.

Conclusion

Nissan is dead set on providing special edition versions of its entire lineup. In fact, with the addition of the Titan, Titan XD, and Frontier, Nissan has a Midnight Edition for nine of its 20-vehicle lineup. This includes the Altima, Maxima, Murano, Pathfinder, Rogue, and Sentra on top of the trucks.

And with sales of special edition models doing so well, who could blame Nissan? Chevrolet, Ram, and other automakers like Jeep have zero shame in dolling up standard models to make them more attractive. People love the idea of having something unique, and special editions plays into that feeling perfectly.

So what do you think about Nissan’s new Midnight edition trucks? Let us know in the comments below.

References

Read our full review on the Nissan Titan.

Read our full review on the Nissan Titan XD.

Read our full review on the Nissan Frontier.