You Know, There's Still Another Rogue on the Way

Nissan unveiled the next-generation Rogue earlier this year, revealing a taller-looking, butched-up CUV with a newly direct-injected four-cylinder engine under hood. Arriving for 2021, the embattled automaker’s bread-and-butter crossover had best resonate with customers.

But that’s not the only crossover shoe dropping for 2021. Overlooked as it is, there’ll be a new take on the Rogue Sport, too.

Filling the space between the compact Rogue and subcompact (and remarkably uncomplicated) Kicks, the Rogue Sport’s sales health is hard to gauge. Nissan North America doesn’t separate the two shared-namesake CUVs on its sales ledger, making for difficult analysis.

The Rogue Sport doesn’t get a lot of press. Reviews seem scarce. The model’s deficiencies in both size and power have been well aired, but it remains a valuable gap-filler, albeit one that could use some work. While it does offer all-wheel drive, many observers, including members of the TTAC chatroom, can’t quite figure out why a buyers would look at this model over a Kicks or a Rogue. Those two models seems to have their respective segments well covered.

All that said, the little CUV (sold in Canada and overseas as the Qashqai) is ready for another kick at the can, appearing in spy photos wearing new bodywork while retaining similar dimensions as before.

Edmunds, which published some of those photos, posits that the Rogue Sport will keep its current platform, but there’s a good chance the current naturally aspirated 2.0-liter four-cylinder (141 horsepower, 147 lb-ft of torque) will be swapped in favor of the slightly healthier unit found in the new-for-2020 Sentra. That 2.0L makes 149 hp and 145 lb-ft in that application.

It’s likely we’ll see the new Rogue Sport before the end of the year. For Nissan, the faster it can get new product on the market, the better.

[Image: Nissan]