Will the 2015 Nissan Murano Dull Ford's Edge?

Nissan released this "teaser" image showing a headlight on the all-new 2015 Murano. The Murano will be unveiled this week in New York. Photo credit: Nissan

Nissan's (NASDAQOTH:NSANY) Murano has always seemed a bit unusual. With dramatic, curvy styling, it doesn't really look the part of an SUV. Its sporty handling, and well-appointed interior, has found quite a few fans, but sales have lagged well behind those of Ford's (NYSE:F) handsome Edge.

Is Nissan about to up its game? The company plans to unveil the all-new 2015 Murano at this week's New York International Auto Show, and it's promising a "new design language" along with a host of high-tech features.

Will it be enough? Fool contributor John Rosevear will be at Nissan's event in New York and, in this video, he offers his take on what he expects to see -- and how the new Murano is likely to be received.

A transcript of the video is below.

John Rosevear: Hey Fools, it's John Rosevear, senior auto analyst for Fool.com. The New York International Auto Show starts this week. Media days are Wednesday and Thursday, and we're expecting the automakers to unveil several interesting new models. I'll be there with my Foolish colleague Rex Moore. We'll bring you a video report of the show's highlights at the end of each day, and we'll have a bunch of more in-depth reports for you over the next week or so after that.

One of the big debuts we're expecting to check out is Nissan's unveiling of the all-new 2015 Murano SUV. Now, the current Murano hasn't exactly been a huge hit for Nissan; they sell around 5,000 of them a month in the U.S. The Pathfinder outsells it, and the smaller Rogue way outsells it, like almost four to one.

But it's a solid entry. It competes with other mid-sized SUVs and crossovers with two rows of seats, like the Ford Edge and the Hyundai Santa Fe and the Chevy Equinox. It's got curvy styling and a good V6 and a suspension that maybe make it a little more fun to drive than some of its rivals.

But the Edge also has attractive styling and outsells it by quite a lot. Ford sold almost 13,000 Edges in the U.S. last month, so Nissan may be looking to up its game here. We don't know what it'll look like, but Nissan did release a teaser photo, which you can see above this video on Fool.com.

Nissan also said that, and I quote: "As the halo vehicle for Nissan's expanding range of bold crossovers and SUVs, the Murano previews a new Nissan design language for future Nissan production vehicles. Along with its innovative styling, the all-new 2015 Nissan Murano features a spacious premium interior and advanced, purposeful safety and connective technology." So you can get the gist there; it'll have dramatic styling and a lot of high-tech touches inside.

We don't know anything about pricing or availability yet; we will hopefully have all of that for you when we see it next Wednesday. Thanks for watching.