2019 Nissan Rogue - What's In a Name?

The only way I can make peace with the growing ubiquity of cross overs is if I tell myself that they're an evolution of the automobile as opposed to some sort of new "vehicle segment" that's taking over the world. If the growth in their popularity was more incremental, that evolution would be more  obvious. The last time the automobile industry saw a seismic change like this was in the 1930's when they shifted, very quickly, to all steel bodies.

I admit I do get, to some extent, what people appreciate about cross overs - that being utility with an elevated driving position and in some cases a dollop of style. I actually (swallows pride) really like some of them too although they're usually higher end models like the Porsche Macan. What I don't get, however, is what anyone sees in what has become the quintessential, bread and butter cross over poster CUV, the Nissan Rogue.

Based on the platform that underpins the compact Nissan Sentra, the amorphous Rogue has been around since 2008. Nissan redesigned it in 2014 to be less androgynous and they gave it a fairly substantial update in 2017. That tweaking apparently worked wonders - Nissan has pushed out nearly a million Rogues since.

In Nissan showrooms, the Rogue occupies the middle slot between the subcompact, Versa based Kicks and the "full size" Altima\Maxima platform based Murano. Yeah...many vehicle manufacturers now have a full line of cross overs akin to the line up they used to have of sedans. Oddly enough, Nissan still sells the Frontier pickup truck based Pathfinder but that's considered an SUV and not a crossover. Nissan tops their cross over and SUV portfolio with the Titan pickup truck based "Armada" and it, remarkably, doesn't look like a PED juiced up Rogue like the Pathfinder does. Instead, it looks like something off the set of a 1990's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV show.

What's mind boggling is that the Rogue sells well in spite of other vehicles in its segment offering a superior seat of the pants experience, more up to date features and tech and that are, subjectively in most if not all cases, better looking. The Rogue's styling, at least through my eyes, looks as though it's not finished and is the embodiment of modern day bland although the 2014 and 2017 models are way superior to the 2008 models. Compared to other vehicles in what has become over the last ten years a very hotly contested segment, they're no bargain either. Nicely equipped the way most people would get them new, they run north of thirty five grand. Same price as the Toyota RAV4, Honda CRV, Jeep Cherokee and probably the best of the bunch, the Mazda CX-5. There's a a myriad of others out there too. I just listed the best ones based on road test reviews.

The Nissan Rogue is so popular these days that two women my wife works with not only bought two together at the same time, they bought two identical ones. Same color and all. SMH. What's more, a guy I work with told me that his mother and sister did the same thing albeit they got different colors. Seriously. Ladies, what the hell?

Perhaps I've touched on something - is there some correlation between its ominous, foreboding name and women? In my experience, women say they want a partner who's edgy and exciting but in reality, they want someone who may appear to be dangerous but is primarily reliable and steadfast.  The last thing in the world most women want is someone who's actually a "rogue". Oh, again, they may say they do but, c'mon. They really don't.

Perhaps it's the name of Nissan's mid sized cross over that I have the biggest beef with and not so much the vehicle itself. I think the name is great - if only it wasn't festooned to something so mediocre. If the Nissan Rogue truly was "rogue", it should at least be capable of doing something quasi exotic like going from zero to sixty in three and half seconds, pulling 1.0+ g's on a skid pad, have the capability to climb a mountain side or at least have styling that's at least somewhat evocative. What's in a name? If its driving sales, as I believe it does to some degree here, than in this case it means everything.