@WBizarre yeah, I agree that it's nowhere near perfect and I'm probably being too charitable because of how awful the facelifted outgoing Rogue looked by the end. The way the DLO drops off behind the A-pillar is a bit odd, and the fact that the swage line coming off the front fenders disappears on the doors and then the swage line on the 'hips' is just a few mm lower is, uh, something:
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I will say I am a strong proponent of brightwork since it gives much needed contrast, and I think it's an interesting graphic that they've chosen to tie the D-pillar 'fin' into the DLO by using the upper chrome piece; it gives a clean break for the two-tone versions though on solid color cars it leaves much to be desired and draws the eye to the unsightly trunk shutline:
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and yeah, overall I'm very much not a fan of the black plastic on the bottom of the doors, I know it's to reduce visual mass but it just creates an odd graphic that makes the car feel broken in the middle. I think I prefer it with the chrome applique since the way it thins and thickens hides the oddness of the shape more. I don't understand why it can't just be a more consistent layer of black plastic, though. Cars looked better with a simple strip of cladding rather than the odd graphics that are being used these days.
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On the 2nd gen X-Trail it was barely noticeable and certainly pulls its weight to reduce visual mass lower down.
