Is the Best Selling Nissan the Rogue?

The Rogue: Nissan's Best Seller?

Just about every carmaker out there has one or two flagship models that keep the customers loyal to the brand. Ford has the F-150. With Nissan, it's the Rogue. The titanic Japanese company is associated with a number of impressive vehicles, but this SUV, in particular, is in a class of its own. The best-selling Nissan might be the Rogue. The numbers back it up.

Rogue vs. Altima: The Bottom Line

The Rogue boasts years of massively high sales since its inception. Nissan delivered 403,465 of the award-winning car in 2017. The next year, the figure was 412,110 - a new record for the Rogue. In 2019, sales declined until the count plateaued at about 350,000, although extenuating circumstances might have been involved.

Now let's talk about the Altima. It's one of Nissan's most well-liked models, despite not matching the Rogue in sales. Since 2017, the SUV has come out on top by about 100,000 sales a year.

Nissan's highest-grossing year for the Altima was 2012 when 335,887 units were sold. This record success saw the Altima even outperform the Rogue, which had managed to sell only 155,772 units. The Rogue, it seems clear, simply has more to offer.

What Sets the Rogue Apart? Is it the Best Selling Nissan?

Some trends seem irreversible as they occur. Americans are turning increasingly away from sedans, focusing more on larger vehicles. Nissan's Rogue is a crossover, a slimmer, more navigable cousin of the traditional sports utility vehicle. It's exactly what the market is hungering for. Consumer Report confirms this impression, describing this model as reliable and attractive.

The Rogue comes equipped with features you might see in a luxury car. At the same time, there's also 40 cubic feet of cargo space with the seats put up. When the seats in the back are put down, it becomes 70 cubic feet. In the event that a Rogue owner needs even more space, they can access an additional storage site positioned on the floor in the back.

The vehicle's cabin is spacious and whisper-quiet until you've got the stereo cranking. The seats are actually comfortable instead of just being there. The crossover demonstrates a variety of top-of-the-line safety features and sync technology such as CarPlay by Apple.

Will Nissan Customers Stay Loyal?

While there's no debate whether the Rogue is the best-selling Nissan, that shouldn't be taken to mean that other cars of its kind aren't selling better. More than one crossover is being chosen repeatedly over the Rogue.

Nissan kept up with the current trends, but they haven't been alone in doing so. Most major car companies have thrown time and money into developing appealing crossovers, meaning there will be stiff competition for some time in this corner of the market.

The general consensus is that models like the Mazda CX-5 and the Honda CR-V impress consumers much more than the Rogue. It doesn't have a reputation for off-road reliability like some Jeeps, and its fuel economy has been called into question due to its lack of refinement. All this means that the Rogue is only a force to be reckoned with within Nissan.

Part of why Nissan might be struggling to break out into the mainstream is because of some internal issues. The company's been juggling low sales and possibly criminal behavior by executives. This in turn is bad for reliability. Manufacturers need to be allowed to properly develop a vehicle so that it lasts longer. It's a question of how patient the company is, and whether they're willing to shell out for the right materials. Is this what's been the case for the Rogue? Let's examine its history for the answer.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - NHTSA - has information listed about the Rogue. There have been a few issues worth mentioning which have resulted in several recalls over the last several years.

Not all Rogues are created equal. Many of them cause drivers a host of problems due to faulty continuously variable transmissions. Customers have reported experiencing "hard jolts" and observing the engine and/or tachometer react unreasonably to the speed at which the car is moving. Repairing or replacing the transmission could run up a bill of four to five thousand dollars.

Ultimately the condition of a car is the responsibility of the owner. Properly scheduled maintenance is a game-changer, especially when you understand beforehand that certain problems are likely to come up. The owner of the car will ultimately determine whether or not the car ends up proving reliable.

That being said, the Nissan Rogue is the company's uncontested bestseller for now and, it is expected, the foreseeable future. More consumers will likely continue the trend of purchasing crossovers. This means that Nissan has more time to improve the quality of its flagship. Come see our lineup for more.