Nissan commits to fall launch of redesigned Rogue despite pandemic shutdown

TOKYO – Nissan has committed to the fall launch of the next-generation Rogue crossover, despite keeping all its U.S. plants offline through late April in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“At this time, our new model launch programs for the U.S. are on track. The all-new Nissan Rogue will be in U.S. showrooms this fall,” Nissan Motor Co. said in a statement Monday.

The redesigned Rogue is a critical vehicle introduction for Nissan as it battles a dearth of fresh product and plummeting sales. Last year, Nissan sold 350,447 units of the Rogue in the U.S., a 15 percent decline from 2018 for the long-in-the-tooth offering that debuted in 2013. Despite its age, the Rogue still managed to be Nissan’s best-selling nameplate and the sixth best-selling vehicle in the entire country.

The next-generation Rogue was expected to go on sale in the U.S. in late 2020.

Nissan’s comment followed a report in Japan’s Nikkei business daily that said Nissan would likely postpone the launch of the update Rogue because of the pandemic. It said production was supposed to start in May at Nissan’s plant in Smyrna, Tenn., but that the current suspension makes it impossible to prepare the factory to launch new models in time.

The new target date for starting production, the Nikkei said, is after the summer.