Us next? New face slapped onto Nissan X-Trail’s Rogue twin

Although only introduced to South Africa in April this year after persistent delays, Nissan’s twin of the X-Trail, the Rogue, debuted as long ago as 2020 in United States with mainly subtle exterior and interior differences.

Revealed under the X-Trail moniker in Europe last year, the Rogue, which has been one of Nissan’s key models Stateside since premiering as an Americanised version of the original Qashqai and then the last generation X-Trail, has now received its first mid-life makeover that could be introduced in South Africa at some stage should approval be given.

New face of Rogue

Dimensionally unchanged with no alternations having been made to the CMF-C platform that also underpins the new Mitsubishi Outlander and Renault Austral, the Rogue’s external revisions comprise a gloss black surround for the V-motion grille, new chromed horizonal grille bars and a restyled lower air intake with a satin chrome finish.

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Down the side, the top-spec Platinum benefits from new 19-inch alloy wheels and gloss black wheel arch cladding, with all derivatives receive new taillight clusters as the only major change at the rear.

Finally, the SV, which sits between the entry-level S and mid-spec SL, gets new 18-inch wheels as standard.

On the colour charts, three new hues have been added; Baja Storm, Everest White Pearl and Deep Ocean Blue Pearl.

Qashqai influence

Inside, the interior has been more extensively updated to now resemble the Qashqai sold as the Rogue Sport in its previous generation.

The same wraparound dashboard means the Rogue comes equipped with the freestanding infotainment system in two sizes; eight-inches on the S and SV and 12.3-inches on the SL and Platinum.

While both feature Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard, wireless integration only appears on the latter pair.

Elsewhere, the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster remains, as does the D-shaped steering wheel and centre console.

New for the S though are two additional type-C USB ports in the front and two at the rear on the SV, SL and Platinum.

A faster charging wireless smartphone charger on the latter pair rounds the interior’s changes off.

No added muscle

Introduced last year as the replacement for the 2.5-litre petrol engine used in the South African-spec X-Trail, the downsized 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine has not undergone any changes or indeed electrification.

It, therefore, means that power and torque figures are unchanged at 150kW/305Nm, with the same applying to the CVT that sends the amount of grunt to the front wheels as standard, or to all four as an option.

US for now

A strict five-seater with no seven-seat option being available as on the X-Trail, the updated Rogue officially enters production before year-end at Nissan’s Smyrna Plant in Tennessee in readiness of sales commencing next year.

For now, the mid-life restyle is bespoke to North America and remains unconfirmed not only for South Africa, but also the Japanese, Australian and European market X-Trails.

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