Damn, well, its hard to get good mpg with a frame....for the vast majority out there, a frame is merely added weight with no return on the investment.
I have a 2008 4dr wrangler (JK) that is about the size and function of the X. Its had reliability issues, but its got two live axles. The new JK's have a much better engine, and have been massaged to have better reliability and off road ability than the older JK's...
...So, for me at least, if I HAD TO get another rig than the X, I would probably grab a JK 4 dr. In fact, my wife drives the JK....and, back when I had the prior wrangler, she drove the 2001 Xterra (Got it in 2000).
Back in ~ 2000, I was hauling crap up mountains/into boonies to set up remote monitoring stations to catch polluters, etc, and I had to use a trailer or make multiple trips with the Wrangler as it was too small to carry every thing. I borrowed the X, and, well, she never got it back....and the rest is history.
NOW, it looks like if the current X dies, I'll probably "Borrow" the JK and she'll get something else.
The framed rig supply is going extinct....which is agonizing to watch as one by one, they are extinguished. I look at the Honda Ridgeline as the future of P-Ups. I see them advertised as conquering Baja, etc...but those rigs are about as representative of a Ridgeline as Nascar cars are to the OEM versions, etc. Even in the NJ Pine Barrens, Honda Ridgelines literally break in half when their unibodies are torqued by simple rutted uneven terrain and a little bouncing....not Baja.
Lots of cubbies and built-in refrigerators, etc, are where things are going....down the drain.
I think, based upon the success of the Rubicon, etc, that Jeep will not be stupid enough to IFS the JK, the last bastion there of a framed two live axled rig.
Back when the Rubicon was dreamed up, Jeep wanted it to be stickers and paint, maybe some fancy rims....but the engineers wanted lockers and lower range t-cases, etc.
Jeep marketing was confused, and said they can't SELL a car based on stuff a customer could not SEE. (Really, who would even know what a t-case was, anyway?)
They fought hard, made prototypes out of their own pockets, and took it on the Rubicon Trail and had the Jeep Execs drive protypes with the "invisible stuff" and OEM.
They DID notice how much BETTER the invisible stuff worked, and gave a go ahead for a very limited production run. At that point, jeep sales were in the toilet.
The year's run sold out in less than a month....and it was a wake-up call to Jeep that the BRAND depended upon the ABILITY of its flagship (THE Jeep) to off road, even if the BUYERS never left the pavement, the IMAGE is what was selling the rigs, and, if the image faded, so would the brand.
Nissan is not seeing enough cash flow for their investment, party because they didn't really go for it image-wise. They hedged the bet, and the win wasn't enough to make the bet worth it.
So, they go bye bye, and follow the current cross over craze.
That too will pass.
The fact is that the best vehicle for most families is the mini-van or station wagon. It has the most practical form factor. The SUV was a way to get the interior room, but look cooler....but the SUV got worse mpg and handled sloppier due to the higher COG, etc.
So they decided to do an end run on the issue, and just CALL the minivan an SUV, and give it some styling cues to match....and THOSE Cute Utes sold like hotcakes....
Of course, the mpg could be better if they rounded the lines that made them LOOK SUV-Like, so they removed those cues, and called them "Cross-Overs", and they are now selling like hotcakes.
Soon, cross overs will be like mini-vans (They are already just bulbous hatchbacks) and people will want something cooler.
Maybe the re-birth of "The Shooting Brake" or something? (Originally designed to carry a shooting party out to the field, along with all their gear and ammo, etc, plus to be able to carry the game back as well, etc)
That would be a logical and predictable direction, as, once again, they could simply alter the lines a biit, add some cues and CALL IT a Shooting Brake (Or other term that evokes a cooler image than, say, Cross over)