Nissan Hi-Cross Concept: Photo Gallery

Today's Nissan Hi-Cross Concept may very well be tomorrow's Rogue — and not a moment too soon. The automaker's compact crossover hasn't received a substantial update in five years, and with the implied potential for both a hybrid model and a third-row option, Nissan could fill an existing void in the class.

More 2012 L.A. Auto Show Coverage

The seven-passenger Hi-Cross, making its North American debut at the 2012 L.A. Auto Show, uses Nissan's first in-house engineered front-wheel-drive hybrid system. The crossover's high-waisted design features slanted, vertical headlights and trapezoidal taillights. Exaggerated fenders help define the front end, with prominent styling lines along the hood and grille. Check out more photos below.

Behold, 2010 Nissan Rogue Krom Edition

We’re not much for special editions that tack on different wheels and some glorified grille cosmetics, but the 2010 Nissan Rogue Krom at least goes full-bore in the grille cosmetics department. As you can plainly see in the image above (a shot of the standard 2010 Rogue is below), the Krom Edition gets a chrome two-bar grille that replaces the three-piece grille of the regular model.

Along with a larger lower bumper and secondary grille, the Krom Edition also has polished 17-inch wheels and a sport-tuned exhaust. It only comes in three colors, Venom Red, Wicked Black and Gotham Gray. That sounds just right for a Halloween theme.

The Krom Edition will be limited, but it’s available in both front- and all-wheel drive starting in December. No pricing has been announced.

Nissan Updates Incentives for Cash for Clunkers

Now that Cash for Clunkers has a fresh round of funding, automakers who didn’t see huge sales the first time around are making sure their own incentives will lure in shoppers. Nissan launched a new sale called the Bottom Line event. There are significant cash-back offers on a number of models including $3,000 off a 2009 Nissan Quest and $2,000 cash back on a 2009 Nissan Sentra.

The program runs through Aug. 31; a detailed list of incentives is below.

Reader Review of the Week: 2009 Nissan Rogue

“Reliable Roguer” from Massachusetts traded in his Nissan Altima for the Rogue and immediately liked the SUV for its practicality and comfort. Still, the Rogue leaves a little something to be desired when it comes to the driving experience. After all, he didn’t name himself “Thrilling Roguer," right? Read his full review of the 2009 Nissan Rogue, and write your own here.

Discount-Club Challenge: Compact SUVs

Every few weeks, I get to shop at the local discount club and load up on 20-packs of paper towels, a few dozen chicken breasts and all those other essentials that cost less when you buy them in bulk. Chances are many of you also share in this routine, shopping regularly at Costco or Sam’s Club, but then have issues getting all your purchases — along with family members — into your car. Besides testing the fit of child-safety seats, this is one of those “you have to do it yourself” requirements in new-car shopping. Unfortunately, while dealers will usually let you install a seat into a prospective new car, they won’t let you run errands.

So we’ve done that for you in four compact SUVs: the 2009 Mitsubishi Outlander, 2009 Ford Escape, 2009 Nissan Rogue and 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan. We didn’t fold the second-row seats down, as any compact SUV would be able to handle the load doing that. We also wanted to show how capable these vehicles are as family cars. When you have to tow children with you to the store, you can’t fold down seats filled with booster, convertible or infant-safety seats buckled in. Even a family of four with teenagers still needs somewhere to sit.

Check out the video below and see how the four contenders managed.

Nissan Offering Zero Percent Financing on Five Models

Nissan has been offering cash back on its models sporadically for a while now, but the company has yet to really ramp up its financing offers the way some other companies have. That will change in November. Starting Nov. 4, Nissan will offer customers 0% financing for 36 months on its most popular models: the Rogue, Murano, Altima, Sentra and Versa hatchback. The offer ends Nov. 30.

What does that mean for buyers? Let’s take a Versa hatchback with a price of $16,210. Using our financing calculator, the difference in monthly payments between the current average financing rate for new cars, 6.6%, and a 0.0% one is about $40 a month – from $436.16 to $394.72 on a 36-month deal with $2,000 down for a total savings of $1,492. Obviously, the more expensive the car, the more 0% adds to the bottom line.

Nissan is also offering $199 per month lease deals on Rogue and Altima.

Check out a full list of current incentives on our Cars.com Incentives page.

Four Small SUVs Get IIHS Top Safety Pick

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released its latest round of crash tests, and this time the safety group took on the small SUV segment, one of the most popular in the market. 

Four out of the eight small SUVs tested earned the IIHS’s Top Safety Pick status, meaning they received top scores in front, side and rear crash tests. All eight SUVs came with stability control standard. Who were the winners? Keep reading for more, along with the IIHS’ chart of how all eight did. 

Weekend Athlete: 2008 Nissan Rogue

This is the part of the job that's not so fun: Grading. If the Rogue were a student, it would be the one who tried hard, whom you liked and who did many things right, but just couldn't quite put it all together come test time.

Nissan Rogue Most Popular New Car on Cars.com

Judging from consumer searches on Cars.com, the Nissan Rogue was the most popular new car of 2007. The Rogue narrowly beat out the Infiniti G37, Buick Enclave and Dodge Avenger to nab the top spot in the most recent Cars.com Consumer Search Index.

This list included only new 2008 models that were introduced to consumers in 2007, and popularity was determined based on the average number of searches each month for each car since it was introduced.

The Rogue is Nissan’s first foray into the small SUV/compact crossover segment, and it has garnered largely positive reviews. In his expert review, Cars.com’s David Thomas noted that “even in its rookie season, [the Rogue] seems ready for the pro bowl.”

With gas prices steadily high, the Rogue should remain popular, along with other compact SUVs from Honda, Ford and Toyota. Below is the full list of the most popular new-car introductions on Cars.com in 2007.

The 2008 Cars.com Mileage Challenge: Part 2

Yesterday, we detailed our scheme to document the real-world mileage of four 2008 models — a Nissan Rogue, Subaru Impreza, Dodge Grand Caravan and Hyundai Sonata. All the cars except the Rogue had trip computers with mileage readouts, so we were able to easily track our mileage along the way. The results are in: