Some interesting news is surfacing again regarding the redesigned 2013 Altima which shares drivetrain components with the Rogue up to this point. First off, the CVT is completely redesigned and sounds to be significantlly superior to the current CVT, and the next gen Rogue CVT should be identical:
http://ca.autoblog.com/2011/12/01/nissa ... #continued
And second, the engine choices are going to be much more interesting than previous models, in particular the Altima 3.5 V6 will be elminated and replaced with a supercharged OR2.5. There may be a chance the Rogue will finally get the high horsepower performance powertrain that some have been asking for, but I wouldn't hold your breath. More likley the Rogue will offer a small displacement turbo 1.6 or 1.8L to replace the current OR2.5 with equivalent power and superior efficiency. Also the Altima will be offered as a hybrid, and the Rogue may follow suit at some point in the near future, making it one if not the only small crossover hybrid, as the Ford Escape WILL NOT offer hybrid option any longer with it's redesign hitting markets in 2013 model year.
http://ca.autoblog.com/2011/11/29/2013- ... re-hybrid/
I'm really looking forward to 2013 - 2014 model years, I think we will see some significant "jumps" forward in powertrain technology, in particular from the Altima and Rogue who currently are lagging behind some competitors a bit, but these new promised powertrains should put them out in front of some strong competitors. One that comes to mind is the newly redesigned Honda CRV, the specs have been released and they've played it very safe, sticking with the same 2.4 L regular aspirated 4 cylinder with the old 5-speed tranny. The CRV holds a large market share and I think the Rogue will steal some of this away with it's exciting new powertrains which among other things result in amazing efficiency. If they can sell a hybrid or even a plug-in hybrid version of the Rogue at a competitive price, this could be home run but the key is the pricing. We'll wait and see....