Buried within the news about the launch of the 2013 Nissan Altima, Nissan confirmed that it’s preparing an all-new version of its Rogue compact crossover. We don’t know much beyond that, but we expect the model to be heavily influenced by the Hi-Cross Concept shown at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show.
The concept was a seven-passenger compact crossover featuring the Rogue’s inline-four engine along with a new turbocharged four-cylinder coupled to a hybrid powertrain, and a new continuously variable automatic transmission. It seems perfectly reasonable to expect all those powertrains on the new Rogue, given the competitive nature of the segment.
Nissan is in the middle of a product renaissance. In all, four new models will join the 2013 Altima sedan in the coming months. Nissan even revealed some of the order: The all-new Pathfinder comes next, followed by the Rogue. We also know the automaker is working on a Sentra replacement and is preparing some sort of subcompact hatchback, possibly the Versa hatch.
Nissan also confirmed that the Rogue will be built in the United States for the first time; the current model is built in Japan. The new Rogue will be built alongside the Leaf, Pathfinder, Frontier, Xterra and Maxima at the carmaker’s Tennessee assembly plant starting in 2013.