Now that the Nissan Rogue has been redesigned, the wait for the all-new, more compact Nissan Rogue Sport has begun. Outside of the US, the Rogue Sport is badged as the Qashqai. This is Nissan's best-selling model in Europe so it's safe to say the all-new model is incredibly important for the Japanese automaker.
Our spies have caught Nissan testing a prototype of the European Qashqai, but we're expecting the same changes to be applied to America's Rogue Sport. While the crossover's exterior doesn't appear to have lost any more camouflage since our last sighting, our spy photographers managed to get a first look inside the new and improved interior.
Compared to the outgoing model, the new Nissan Rogue Sport's cabin has been significantly upgraded with larger screens for the infotainment and satellite navigation systems. Overall, the interior design mimics the layout of its larger Rogue sibling, featuring a floating touchscreen for the infotainment system and a fully digital instrument cluster.
On the outside, the Rogue Sport prototype sports similar proportions to the outgoing model, but we can see the Rogue Sport's new slim daytime running lights hiding beneath the camouflage, which form part of the new, partially-split headlights. A new V-Motion grille gives the Rogue Sport a bolder look, and the taillights have also been redesigned.
The new Rogue Sport will ride on the same Common Module Family platform as the current model incorporating a range of electrified gasoline engines with 48-volt mild-hybrid technology and a plug-in hybrid. This Qashqai prototype is also gasoline-powered since the crossover will no longer be offered with a diesel engine in Europe and features paddle shifters behind the wheel for the automatic transmission.
Originally, the new Nissan Qashqai was expected to debut towards the end of this year and go on sale in 2021, but a new report by Financial Times claims that development has been delayed by six months. Production reportedly won't start at the UK's Sunderplant until after April 2021, so we'll have to wait and see how this affects the production of the new Rogue Sport.