Nissan’s Hybrid Mistake Costs Rogue Sales, Despite Hot Refresh

Nissan launched an updated Rogue for the 2024 model year and it’s not off to a great start. Despite providing new technology and even a faux off-road trim, sales are dropping. The Japanese brand might be fully realizing the consequences of not offering a hybrid engine.

When the updated Rogue first broke cover last year we specifically called out the lack of a hybrid drivetrain. That’s the one Armada-sized difference between the Rogue and its direct competitors, the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda CR-V.

Read: US Investigating 77,000 Nissan SUVs

According to Autonews, both Toyota and Honda are doing great with those models this year. During the first six months, RAV4 sales are up 33 percent. The CR-V has seen a 20 percent bump in the same time. The Rogue, on the other hand, is down 4.5 percent.

That’s a huge blow to Nissan. According to one dealer, “We used to sell 30 to 40 Rogues a month, and now we are down to 15 to 20.” For the 2023 model year, the Rogue represented a third of sales for Nissan.

Again, the big difference here is that the Rogue isn’t available with a hybrid drivetrain. As such, it simply can’t keep up when it comes to fuel economy. That’s not always a problem when it comes to vehicles that illicit performance or luxury as their main attribute. For an economy crossover with no real wow features, though, it’s a major issue as sales are indicating.

“We’ve added features like ProPilot Assist 2.1 and Safety Shield 360 allowing Rogue to have what it takes to compete in the largest segment in the U.S. market,” says a Nissan spokesperson.

The sales numbers, however, speak for themselves, no matter what the company line may be. This is an issue Nissan created on its own. Moreover, in February, it openly owned the fact that it missed the hybrid wave. Now, it’ll have to deal with the consequences of its decisions until it can get hybrid drivetrains into the US market.