There ain’t no engineering like badge engineering

As we careen towards the end of November, we start the infamous LA Auto Show week. Auto shows aren’t what they used to be (unless it’s in Tokyo), and there are a few announcements ahead of the show.

Today’s announcement is the “all-new” Nissan Rogue plug-in hybrid. And I have to ask, “What is going on at Nissan?”

The Rogue PHEV is a rebadged Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, but it’s a rebadge in the most cynical, 1990s General Motors type of way. Sure, the Pontiac Firebird and Chevrolet Camaro were the same cars underneath, but they at least looked a little different. The same was true for the Pontiac Sunfire and Chevrolet Cavalier.

This badge-engineered job is like a 1990s GMC pickup truck that looked identical to a 1990s Chevrolet pickup truck. The Technology Connections YouTube channel does something called “No Effort November,” and this Rogue PHEV is exactly that.

It’s obvious that Nissan went to Mitsubishi and straight-up bought some Outlanders to be rebadged as Rogues. Good on Mitsubishi. Make that bag.

The Rogue PHEV is a three-row crossover with a Mitsubishi body, Mitsubishi interior, Mitsubishi infotainment, Mitsubishi steering wheel, and more. Unlike the most refreshed Rogue, this “new” Rogue is using last-generation styling.

If Nissan and Mitsubishi are set up next to each other at the auto show, show-goers aren’t going to be able to tell the difference.

But instead of continuing to harp on how this is the laziest new product I’ve seen since I started doing this job professionally, I have a more important question to ask.

Who is this for, exactly?

Nissan doesn’t have a plug-in hybrid in its showrooms, so in some ways it makes sense to go to Mitsubishi for one. In fact, there aren’t any hybrids for a Nissan customer to buy.

There was a Rogue that was a hybrid, but it didn’t sell well. There are global products, powered by Nissan’s e-Power, that just wouldn’t work in North America (at least not yet).

But even if this car solves those problems, in the short term, it doesn’t explain who is going to buy this car?

The Outlander PHEV, for better or worse, has DC fast charging as a PHEV. Now, I strongly believe that’s a useless feature, but with how much isn’t changed on this car when it becomes a Nissan, it’s surprising that any money was spent at all to remove the functionality.

Side note: If the Rogue PHEV had CHAdeMO fast charging like the Mitsubishi, then there would be like three different plug choices on a new Nissan. The new Leaf uses NACS, while the Ariya uses CCS, and then the Rogue would use CHAdeMO. That would be, objectively, silly. Presumably, that’s why it was removed here, at whatever cost it added to the deal.

So if the car is exactly like the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV — which is a nice car, mind you — why would someone buy the Nissan? It likely won’t be any cheaper to purchase than the Mitsubishi, and the Mitsubishi will likely have a better warranty.

Who is this for?

I had heard rumblings that this car was coming for over a year now, and that it would be the Outlander but different. I had heard it wouldn’t be a Rogue with Mitsubishi running gear, but basically an Outlander. But I did expect it to be more different than it is.

It’s a car to provide a stopgap until e-Power gets here. But with e-Power right around the corner, it seems this car serves no real practical purpose.

Sure, they might sell one or two, but then the company will either have to sell them at a discount (and a loss) or dump them into the employee fleet and try to forget that they ever existed.

If it sounds like I’m being harsh on Nissan here, I am. There are smart people in Franklin, and there are some legitimately great products coming from the brand. Heck, the new Leaf might be the most important EV launched this year.

Was this deal forced on North America? Who in the C-Suite thought this was a good idea? Because, respectfully, it was not.

Now, maybe I’m ultimately wrong, and people really do want a PHEV Rogue that looks exactly like a Mitsubishi both inside and out. There are more Nissan dealerships in the country than there are Mitsubishi dealerships, so it’s possible some people don’t even know what a Mitsubishi is, let alone what products they make.

But at the end of the day, this product seems more cynical than practical. And considering how long it’ll likely be on sale, it makes next to zero sense.