Yesterday, we ran a story about how the upcoming 2026 Nissan Rogue PHEV isn’t really a Nissan at all, but a hastily-rebadged Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. That story was written from, well, a somewhat negative perspective. I mean, we called it lazy, and I’m repeating that headline construction here, but I think I have a decidedly different take from the one we published yesterday. It’s not that I don’t agree the re-badging of the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV into the Nissan Rogue PHEV wasn’t lazy; it definitely was. I just happen to think that was a fantastic choice on Nissan’s part.
I said what I said! I’m in complete support of one of the most half-assed rebadging jobs since 1980s GM A-bodies. Sure, I was repulsed by those at the time, and perhaps I still am. That sort of phoned-in re-badging was sort of a well-established and safe thing to disdain back in the day.
Hell, even mainstream publications like Fortune got into it:
But right now? In this particular situation? I have to say I kind of get it, and even more so, I’m not even remotely offended. I mean, yes, Nissan barely got up off the couch for this one; it’s a Mitsubishi Outlander with a Nissan grille:
But here’s the thing: I just don’t care. And, even more so, I don’t think any of the people who are in the market for a plug-in Nissan Rogue will care, either.
Both these cars are on the same basic platform as it is. And let’s not delude ourselves into thinking that Nissan’s current design language is something so precious and wonderful that it can’t be debased in such a manner. It’s very debasable!
Sure, in our article we said
“The regular Rogue doesn’t even share the same surfacing as this thing.”
…and, sure, that’s true, and if you’re a hardcore gearhead who cares about these things like our own Thomas Hundal, who wrote that piece is, then perhaps that matters. I mean, if you’re using the word “surfacing” at all to describe a crossover’s styling, sure, this may mildly sicken you, but the people who are buying Rogues? They don’t care.
They don’t care because why the hell would they care? The Outlander looks about as good as the Rogue. It’s essentially the same size, same volume of space inside, and while it has a C-pillar with a somewhat different angle than the Rogue, from the side and halfway across a Costco parking lot, no one really can tell the difference in these two machines.
I respect Nissan’s acceptance of reality that sometimes good enough is truly good enough, and in no universe would it have made an hors d’oeuvres’ worth of sense for Nissan to pour the money into either integrating the Outlander’s plug-in hybrid components into the Rogue or designing and building all new more Rogue-like body panels for the Outlander. If the CEO of Nissan okay’d that outlay of funds, I’d think they were an idiot.
Because, again, who really gives a rat’s rectum? The Outlander/Rogue is fine.
And this overall attitude, this could be what saves Nissan, a company I think is worth saving. Well, it could save them if they’re doing one other thing, which is working on any other interesting/compelling/affordable cars at all.
If Nissan becomes a genuinely, even brutally honest company, the kind that can admit that, really, it barely matters what mid-size, mid-price, mid-range crossover people buy because they’re really all about as good as any other, then it justifies a lazy rebrand that saves their already limited resources.
Then they would hopefully put those resources into doing something actually compelling, like a truly affordable yet desirable car or an exciting sports car or a novel take on an SUV or minivan or a reincarnation of the Datsun 510 like they showed at car shows over a decade ago?
Really, they just need something that stands out in some capacity – price, design, performance, utility, whatever – to get back in the game. A PHEV Rogue isn’t going to move any dials anywhere, and so that’s not worth anything over minimal effort.
Nissan absolutely phoned in this one – and I hope that’s a sign that they actually know what they’re doing.
As someone who owned a Ford-badged Mazda in the 1990s, a benefit of badge engineering was being able to shop for common parts between two different brand dealers and picking the cheapest.
This is actually a dream come true. I like the Outlander PHEV a lot but the front styling killed it for me with the stupid handlebar mustache look. The Nissan version fixes that!
If you think this is lazy check out the Mitsubishi ASX which is a rebadged Renault Captur
I think Torch nailed it. If someone’s gonna buy a PHEV Rogue, they’re gonna buy a PHEV Rogue. The shits given about it being a rebranded whatever will be zero.
The amazing rub of all this is we’re up to 67 comments….and counting, on the Nissan Rogue/Mitsubishi Outlander. Thats 67 more than either deserve!
So you’re saying they put in ZERO effort into this Mitsubishi?
The Nissan better be cheaper since you’re giving up a lot of warranty for the Nissan badge.
Hot take: I don’t care enough to distinguish between any of the bazillion CUVs out there. They’re all vaguely the same two box shape, all slightly melted but with a few sharp edges because “styling,” mostly all white, silver, grey or black. When I walk out of Costco, I can’t see the Rogues or Outlanders because they are lost in a sea of other same-y CUVs. All the manufacturers in this class are phoning in the styling.
Glad I drive a small blue truck, which I still can’t find because it’s hidden behind an enormous, cartoonish pickup somewhere in the same parking lot.
I’ll have you know my 2025 Chevy Trax is red, and I’ve only seen like 20 other red ones in my area. (Seriously, I think we all said, “I’ll get a red one, because everyone else will be driving a gray one,” and now everyone has a red one and just about the only color I ever see is white because a couple local businesses have them as company cars.)
Over the years this thing seems to happen to me where if a friend or family member gets a certain model + color of car, I feel like I’m seeing it everywhere after that. I figured it was some mental biasing effect, like now my brain is on the lookout for it. It generally didn’t apply to my own vehicles because I’ve never owned a car that was common enough on the roads for that to factor in, I think.
Can’t fault the makers too much here. They make what sells. Chicken or the egg with gray Rav4s looking cars it seems.
Please do an article and start a discussion of cars that could or should be rebadged and why. We could all have fun with that. WRT to the A-bodies, they aren’t exactly what I think of as rebadges. The bizarre thing is that the body panels are actually all unique, you just can’t tell (Adam on his excellent YouTube channel pointed this out, IYKYK)
Here’s one for you – why don’t some of the large companies just rebadge a Tesla model? The charging network is in place. The details of them are pretty well worked out. Take the goof ball truck and put a F-150 body on it.
I don’t think the Cubertruck is well-engineered or tough enough in the important areas to be a F150 stand in.
I mean Ford is killing the Lightning off. So their effort on an EV truck was wasted.
Mitsubishi Colt being a Clio, Rogue being an Outlander… now we need a Renault that’s a barely rebadged Nissan to complete the cycle!
Feel like a Dodge Raider is being left out here.
You mean the Renault Alaskan?
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Renault_Alaskan_IMG_9663.jpg/2560px-Renault_Alaskan_IMG_9663.jpg
I have always thought the Mitsubishi Outlander was better looking inside and out than the Nissan Rogue.
The Toyota Voltz is another example of this, and almost the same scenario. The Toyota Matrix gives way to the Pontiac Vibe, which then gives way to the Toyota Voltz.
Also, how has there not been an article about the weirdo Indonesian non-Honda Accords, the Proton Perdana? The second generation Proton Perdana was a weirdo zombie version of the 8th gen Honda Accord that even got its own redesign again, but to make matters weirder the first generation Proton Perdana was a redesigned 7th gen Mitsubishi Galant. Current Protons appear to all be Geely designs.
I have done some truly “meh” things in my life, both professional and personal. Not necessarily proud of the process, but the results were acceptable and I am proud of the results/effort ratio. I am firmly on JT’s side here.
The front of the Outlander is stupid hideous. The tail is not as bad as the front, it’s just bad. Other than the Toyota/Subaru EV thing, I cannot imagine anything worse looking on the road. And this is what they rebadged?
The older I get, the more puzzling it all seems to be.
Great, so when it breaks you have to take it to the Nissan dealer who’s techs won’t have a clue how to fix it. And will it develop Big Rogue Energy (successor to Big Altima Energy) with dented bumpers and one spare tire on it at 20mph over the speed limit weaving through traffic? Hopefully being a Mitsubishi will mean it has better seats and a less awful infotainment system.
But there certainly is plenty of precedent for this sort of thing. I still desperately want a set of Honda Crossroad badges for my Land Rover Disco, just to fuck with people.
This one is even the right color:
https://www.reddit.com/r/WeirdWheels/comments/ydk3ms/1993_honda_crossroad_the_final_boss_of_badge/
Around here at least, Mitsubishis are piloted by the same credit lacking, no effs given horrible drivers as Nissan. So…yes.
Around me the only Mitsubishis I ever see are Mirages that are VERY obviously Granny’s last ride. Sometimes you can even see their faces over the steering wheel, and not just the knuckles.
Though that said, up in Maine, my aunt and then all her kids have had the best part of 10 various Outlanders over the past 10-15 years and absolutely LOVE them. They are definitely NOT credit criminals, just not into cars at all. Zero major issues that I have ever heard of. My family is weird like that – the whole damned family bought Subarus in the ’80s after my grandfather bought one of the redesigned ones in ’80 and loved it, and another one in ’82. Then they all rusted to pieces and nobody bought them anymore, LOL.
Back in the day I wanted Honda badges and trim from a Passport transposed to an Isuzu SpaceCab pickup.
That would be fun too!
Rogue????
OUTLANDER!! There can be only one!
Highlander looks on in disgust…. I mean the Outlander does have that big Christopher Lambert forehead energy….