The automotive industry has largely moved away from lazy new badges, but every now and then there’s one that brings back memories of Australia’s Button Plan or troubled British Leyland.
Meet the 2026 Nissan Rogue Plug-in Hybridwhich looks nothing like the normal Nissan Rogue.
That’s because it’s just a redesigned Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, differing only in the emblem, a grille insert and the trim strip between the taillights.
It will arrive in US dealers in early 2026 and will be offered with three rows of seats and two trim levels.
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Amusingly, Nissan’s press release doesn’t mention the Outlander at all, nor does it offer any explanation as to why it looks so different than the regular Rogue.
The Rogue is the US-built cousin of the X-Trail sold in Australia, and the Nissan duo and Mitsubishi Outlander all share the same platform.
Nissan opted to simply rename the Mitsubishi rather than attempt to integrate its plug-in hybrid (PHEV) technology into the related Rogue. The company’s much-publicized financial problems are probably to blame for this, as a simple new badge allows Nissan to bring the vehicle to market much more quickly.
The Rogue PHEV fills a gap in Nissan’s American lineup of midsize hybrid SUVs, as the Rogue is not yet offered in the U.S. with the e-Power series hybrid powertrain available in the Australian X-Trail. It is also Nissan’s first plug-in hybrid in the US market.
However, it is based on the pre-update Outlander PHEV and not the updated model that was introduced last year and features a larger battery and more powerful powertrain.
It features a 96kW/195Nm 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine paired with 85kW/255Nm and 100kW/195Nm electric motors front and rear, for a total system output of 182kW and 450Nm. The updated Outlander PHEV, on the other hand, produces a total of 225 kW.
There’s a 20kWh lithium-ion battery, rather than the new 22.7kWh pack offered in the updated Outlander PHEV. The stated purely electric range is 61 km.
The Rogue PHEV also lacks several new features in the updated Outlander PHEV, including ventilated front seats and a Yamaha sound system. Additionally, it still has the old 9.0-inch infotainment touchscreen rather than the new 12.3-inch unit.
While Nissan displays its logo on other brands of vehicles and vice versa, such badge technology is typically limited to kei cars and commercial vehicles such as vans.
Redesigned Nissan SUVs like the Terrano, a relative of the Dacia Duster, will be sold in markets where their twins are not currently offered.
This is not the case with the new Rogue PHEV, which is sold in the US, where the Outlander PHEV is also sold.
It’s reminiscent of the so-called Button automotive industry plan in Australia in the 1980s and 1990s, when the Ford Falcon ute was sold as the Nissan ute and in return Ford got the Patrol as the Maverick and the mid-sized Pintara sedan and Hatch as the (thankfully more differentiated) Corsair.
While Nissan gave a Mitsubishi a new logo and made minimal effort to make it stand out, Mitsubishi is at the other end.
Its new ASX is a Renault Captur with only the subtlest of external differentiation, while the Colt is a redesigned Clio, the Grandis is a Renault Symbioz and the new Eclipse Cross is a Renault Scenic.
MORE: Explore the Mitsubishi Outlander showroom
