The All-New Nissan X-Trail Is Stunning, Inside And Outside

It may have taken a while, but the all-new Nissan X-Trail has been unveiled in the USA – and we get into what we like about it.

After what seems like forever, Nissan has finally unveiled the next generation of its mid-sized SUV, the X-Trail. It’s premiered for the US market first under the Rogue badge, but for all intents and purposes the model is going to be similar to what we will see in the ASEAN region and the rest of the world.

Unfortunately, the changes haven’t been to the mechanicals. It looks like the old 2.5-litre naturally-aspirated powertrain is going to make a return, and the US market will see performance bumped marginally to 181 hp and 245 Nm of torque. For a workhorse it isn’t the worst choice of engine, but it can seem a little tired compared to the downsized turbocharged offerings from other brands.

The platform looks like it’s probably a rehashed version of the one that underpins the X-Trail we know, which is surprising considering how vastly different this new model looks compared to the outgoing one. This probably means that we will see both five and seven seater variants of the model, which offers some flexibility depending on whether you need the capacity for people or for luggage.

What’s really going to blow your mind is how amazing this new interior looks – and it’s a far cry from the plastic or dark tones we’re used to seeing. It’s starting to look truly upmarket, maybe even taking a leaf out of Mazda’s books when it comes to designing interiors you just won’t get tired of. The overall layout is fairly straightforward with what looks like a monostatic shifter and a centrally mounted entertainment head unit.

For the US market, the X-Trail will be offered with a sole CVT-type automatic transmission that sends power to either the front wheels or all four wheels. Other trim options will determine things like whether it comes with a wireless CarPlay and cellphone charging, as well as three zone climate control, and ProPilot Assist as an active safety system.

What looks like will be standard across the range are the variety of screens available to the driver, with the exception of the heads-up display that’s a whopping 10.8-inches large. In front of the driver is either a 7-inch or 12.3-inch instrument display, and in the center is either an 8-inch or 9-inch touch screen infotainment system.

On the whole, this is one model we’re looking forward to besides the all-new Almera that should be quite the stunner as well. Nissan has been in a little bit of a model slump over the last few years, but with such a radical change in design and branding it may just be able to pull them out of all the trouble that they’ve faced lately both internally and externally.