Nissan News - Nissan Rogue set to enter CUV fray

December 31, 2006 by tsikot

Nissan’s pulled the wraps off its new Rogue crossover, which looks for all the world like a Hyundai Santa Fe, which, in turn, means it also looks like the Toyota RAV4 — both of which are vehicles it’s designed to compete directly against. We’re not so sure we’re into the flowy lines on the Rogue, and we prefer the more traditional look of the automaker’s Euro-market Qashquai (a.k.a. Dualis in Japan). Sizewise, it slots in between the Santa Fe and Honda’s CR-V, whose Pokemon-like styling is starting to look like a good move given the visual similarities seen in some of the competition.

The exterior, as we said, is very Hyundai-looking, with a swoopy, rising beltline, rounded side glass, and a softer-looking front end than any other Nissan CUV or SUV. There are similarities to the Qashquai up front, but the Qash is butchier and better-looking if you ask us.

The Rogue shares its architecture with the new Sentra, and comes with FWD standard, though AWD is available as an option. No matter how you trim it out, there’s just a single powertrain option available: a 175-horsepower 2.4L four-banger connected to a CVT. If you want to control shifts yourself, you can add a set of optional paddles.

More analysis and additional photos after the jump…

[Source: Inside Line]

Continue reading Nissan Rogue set to enter CUV fray

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