Earlier this week Nissan announced pricing for its 2020 Rogue compact crossover, which just so happens to be its best-selling vehicle. It turns out the 2020 Rogue is receiving a slight price bump, though it does come with more standard features, such as Safety Shield 360. But there was something missing in Nissan's press release: there was no mention of the hybrid model. What does this mean?

Autoblog has confirmed with Nissan that the Rogue Hybrid has been discontinued for 2020. "Nissan will not offer the Rogue Hybrid for model year 2020. We will continue to focus efforts on the best-selling Rogue and new 2020 Rogue Sport," said company spokesperson Kevin Rafferty.

The Nissan Rogue Hybrid first launched back in 2017 and it made an awful lot of sense at the time. Toyota had its RAV4 Hybrid and the Ford Escape Hybrid was a solid hit. The new 2020 Escape not only offers a hybrid but also a plug-in hybrid variant. Given that, why would Nissan make this decision? Chances are it's because of disappointing sales. Rafferty did not provide specific sales figures, but a closer pricing examination reveals one key detail that may have cost the Rogue Hybrid its life: it's priced at least $2,800 more than the standard Rogue.

That's quite a price jump for a vehicle that exists in times of low gasoline prices. Another likely reason for the Rogue Hybrid's departure is the new 2019 RAV4 Hybrid, which is more efficient by 7 mpg. Pit the two vehicles against one another by undecided customers and the choice quickly becomes clear.

For now, the 2019 Nissan Rogue Hybrid remains on sale with a starting price of $25,595 while the feature-packed SL trim tops off at $33,885. Fuel efficiency doesn't necessarily come cheap.