2021 Nissan Rogue Gets Retrofit To Remedy Poor Passenger Crash Rating

It came as quite a shock when the 2021 Nissan Rogue garnered a shockingly low two-star rating in front passenger crash testing from the NHTSA. As Nissan's best-selling vehicle and one of the best-selling CUVs in North America, having such a low score in the latest model isn't ideal by any means. Nissan already implemented changes at the factory for new models. Now, models built before will have an upgrade available soon.

That's the word straight from Nissan. In a statement emailed to Motor1.com, the automaker explained that a plan to bring a retrofit to owners of earlier 2021 models is in the works. Here is the full statement.

"Nissan is committed to vehicle safety and is pleased with the 2021 Nissan Rogue's overall 4-star NCAP safety rating. All 2021 Rogue vehicles fully comply with federal safety standards.

Nissan is aware of the two-star NCAP rating for front-passenger safety for 2021 Rogue vehicles assembled at Nissan's Kyushu, Japan, manufacturing facility prior to Jan. 28, 2021. Nissan applied an update to the front passenger restraint system on all 2021 Rogue vehicles assembled at Nissan's Smyrna, Tennessee plant, and all vehicles produced after Jan. 28 at the Kyushu plant. Therefore the two-star front-passenger safety rating only applies to the vehicles produced at the Kyushu plant prior to Jan. 28.

To ensure customer confidence and satisfaction, Nissan will soon launch a service campaign to update 2021 Rogue vehicles produced in Kyushu prior to January 28, 2021. Owners will receive notification as to when to bring their vehicle in for updates.

The front-passenger safety systems in the vehicles that received the update have yet to be tested by NHTSA. An additional test of the 2021 Rogue is scheduled with results expected in May."

The exact nature of the issue relating to the front-passenger safety system was never explained in detail. It's believed that approximately 50,000 vehicles rolled off Nissan's Kyushu assembly line before the update was made. However, the vast majority of Rogues sold in the US come from the automaker's Tennessee facility, which received the necessary update before 2021 Rogue production began. As such, it's unclear how many Rogues in the US are affected.