2012 Nissan Pathfinder Concept Goes Back to Unibody

Like all 'utes, it's first iteration was built on a truck platform, which was then followed by a unibody second generation. But unlike the rest of the pack, the third-gen Pathfinder swapped back to a body-on-frame architecture and it's stayed that way for the last seven years.

Now the Pathfinder is swapping its underpinnings, yet again, utilizing a unibody platform that weighs "substantially less than the previous design," houses seven seats, a new V6 and a CVT, all of which adds up to a claimed 25-percent improvement in fuel economy.

But even with all that information, Nissan is still calling this a "concept."

Before it goes on sale later this year, we'll get a real glimpse of the interior, which Nissan says will have more interior and cargo capacity thanks to its new platform. The outside, on the other hand, is almost a dead-ringer for the production version, with an aero-honed nose that's much more handsome than some of Nissan's recent snouts, along with a low beltline, a sizable greenhouse and A- and D-pillars that should lessen the blindspots that plagued the outgoing model.