Nissan Motor Co. will ax the Rogue Sport crossover because it focuses on higher-volume fashions and revamps its lineup for an electrical future.
Manufacturing of the Rogue Sport will finish in December, Nissan informed sellers in a memo obtained by Automotive Information.
“With the all-new Rogue and lately redesigned Kicks, we are going to proceed to cowl this a part of [the] market successfully,” Nissan Vice President Scott Shirley famous within the memo.
Dropping the Rogue Sport permits Nissan to shift manufacturing to higher-demand fashions similar to Rogue, Kicks and Pathfinder.
“We’re additionally in a position to make investments extra assets in our present car lifecycles and next-generation merchandise,” Shirley famous.
Rogue Sport gross sales will proceed into early 2023, as stock is offered and Nissan will present components assist by means of 2033.
The Rogue Sport, offered because the Qashqai exterior the US, shares a platform with Rogue compact crossover. It’s barely smaller, with a special engine, completely different dealing with traits, and a special goal market.
The Rogue Sport was positioned as a conquest mannequin to lure new and youthful prospects when it launched within the U.S. in 2017.
“We’re predicting that the Rogue Sport will ship 70 p.c conquest gross sales,” Christian Meunier, Nissan North America’s then senior vice chairman of gross sales & advertising and operations, informed Automotive Information throughout the New York auto present.
However rumors of the Rogue Sport’s demise started circulating barely two years later. The crossover has failed to search out its area of interest between the entry-level Kicks and the higher-volume Rogue.
Because the Rogue moved barely upscale, a spot between it and the extra entry-level Rogue Sport has widened, AutoForecast Options Vice President Sam Fiorani mentioned.
“In the meantime, the recognition of the Kicks and its lower cost has put strain on Rogue Sport gross sales, squeezing it out of the lineup,” Fiorani mentioned.
Ditching the Rogue Sport will enable Nissan to take a position extra into the subcompact Kicks, in accordance with a vendor who requested he not be recognized.
“We are able to get extra bang for our buck with the Kicks, particularly because it’s going all-wheel drive,” the vendor mentioned.
The Kicks is about for a redesign in early 2024 that may make it longer and wider, shrinking the dimensions distinction between the 2 crossovers. Sellers describe the brand new Kicks as being extra aggressive and “SUV-like.”
In the meantime, the Rogue acquired its redesign final 12 months, together with a brand new platform and a revamped look.
“Rogue Sport used to not less than look the identical, just a bit bit smaller,” the supply. “With the redesign, the Rogue is a totally completely different automobile.”