Nissan Hopes to Match RAV4 Hybrid Ratio With Rogue

GREENSBORO, GA – For its new Rogue Hybrid launching in December, Nissan is keeping mum on sales expectations.

However, a Nissan U.S. official hints the brand hopes to match the hybrid ratio enjoyed this year by its key rival, the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid.

“If you look at RAV4 (2016 sales), they’ve been doing anywhere from 12%-15% hybrids (in a given month). I think in year one we probably don’t expect to be at that 15% level, but clearly there’s a market there,” Ty Webb, chief marketing manager-crossovers at Nissan North America, tells media here during a ’17 Rogue Hybrid preview.

Through September, Toyota sold 260,380 RAV4 compact CUVs, WardsAuto data shows. Of that, 32,965 (12.7%) were the new hybrid variant introduced for ’16.

Rogue sales were up 13.3% through September to 241,619. For Nissan to match the RAV4’s 12.7% hybrid ratio, 31,000 of those 241,619 units would have to be hybrids.

However, the Rogue Hybrid doesn’t launch until late December, becoming the first powertrain variant in the increasingly popular Rogue CUV’s lineup.

The Rogue, which debuted in 2007 as an ’08 model in the U.S., has seen sharp sales increases since its 2013 second-generation launch.

Shortly after, Nissan sought out additional manufacturing capacity, making its Renault Samsung subsidiary plant in Busan, South Korea, in 2014 another source of the vehicle after Nissan’s Smyrna, TN, plant quickly became tapped out.

Excluding niche models such as the Tesla Model S and Subaru WRX, in 2015 the Rogue was the fastest-growing U.S. model by volume, up 44.2% from 2014’s 199,199 with 287,190 sold.

Through September, the Rogue was less than 1,000 units away from the midsize Altima sedan’s 242,321 deliveries. Nissan expects the CUV to overtake the Altima, its longtime best-selling U.S. model, before year-end.

“We don’t expect that trend (toward compact CUVs and away from midsize sedans) is going to turn around anytime soon,” Webb says. He hopes Rogue demand stays strong next year thanks to the hybrid and the refreshed ’17 non-hybrid Rogue. Webb points out the RAV4 Hybrid’s 2016 sales account for nearly all the CUV’s 32,458-unit growth this year.

The Rogue Hybrid will come in two trim levels, SV and SL, lacking the base S grade of the non-hybrid Rogue.

Unlike the non-hybrid Rogue SV, a third row is not an option as that area stores the Rogue Hybrid’s lithium-ion battery pack.

Rogue Hybrid pricing is due closer to its late December U.S. launch, with Nissan vowing the CUV will be priced competitively to the RAV4 Hybrid.

For ’17, the RAV4 Hybrid begins at $29,030 for an XLE grade and $34,030 for a Limited. Destination and handling adds $940.

The Rogue has the distinction of outdoing the RAV4 on fuel economy.

For ’17, the EPA-estimated combined fuel efficiency of the all-wheel-drive Rogue is 33 mpg (7.1 L/100 km), above the 32 mpg (7.4 L/100 km) average of the AWD-only ’17 RAV4 Hybrid.

A front-wheel-drive ’17 Rogue Hybrid nets 34 mpg (6.9 L/100 km) combined.

In other Rogue news, Nissan announces it is one of five global brands partnering with Lucasfilm for marketing of the latest Star Wars film, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” opening in U.S. theaters Dec. 16.

A limited edition ’17 Rogue with badging designed by Lucasfilm will debut at November’s Los Angeles auto show. Until that time, Nissan is withholding the limited edition CUV’s on-sale date as well as how many will be available.

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