The nexus phone line were joint developments with OEMs. Pixel is the line that Google solely developed and marketed as its own as it pivoted to trying to influence the Android brand.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_(1st_generation)#History
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_(1st_generation)#History
> Google finally decided to take the brand into their own hands by releasing Nexus, and now Pixel lines
I was just pointing out that your "traditionally" is a non-traditional notion if you consider the timeline of Nexus and Android.