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In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder and Road Test Editor Zac Palmer for the final episode of 2020. They've been driving some interesting cars, including the Nissan GT-R, the new Nissan Armada, a Mercedes-Benz GLA and a pair of new-gen Kia Sorentos. They talk a bit about an interesting new EV called the Ace from Alpha Motor Corporation. Finally, the trio takes turns talking about their favorite cars they drove this year. Enjoy, and we'll be back with more episodes in 2021.

The 2021 Nissan Armada is the first product in the United States to wear the Nissan brand's new badge. It's a modern and sleek-looking logo, and it's well-suited to the properly sorted and genuinely impressive new vehicles Nissan recently launched. The new Altima surprised us in a good way; the redesigned Rogue and Sentra took huge leaps forward, and even the Versa is an impressive little sedan now.

However, the refreshed Armada is only that: a mildly updated version of the same Armada. Since it's the company's flagship SUV, it gets the honor of wearing the new logo first, even if it doesn't best exemplify the sea change happening at Nissan. Although the second-generation Armada debuted four years ago, its bones date back to 2011 when the internationally sold Nissan Patrol and its Infiniti QX56 (later QX80) offshoot debuted. The Patrol would be the basis for this Armada generation, but unfortunately, the updates for 2021 don't add any of the Patrol's extra off-roading equipment that have been missing since the beginning. That includes the locking front and rear differentials, disconnecting sway bar and Hydraulic Body Motion Control suspension that links all four corners of the car hydraulically for better on-road control and less harshness off-road. The only off-road upgrade to speak of for 2021 is a two-degree better approach angle thanks to a reshaped front bumper.

The 2021 Nissan Armada made its debut today, and the changes this year amount to a heavy mid-cycle refresh. Nissan's full-size SUV isn't especially old in model years having debuted in its current form for the 2017 model year, but that doesn't tell the whole story. This generation of Armada is essentially a Nissan-ized Infiniti QX80. At this point, the QX80 is two facelifts on from the vehicle it was when it was all-new in 2011 — at that point, it was still called the QX56. Underneath it all is the internationally-sold Nissan Patrol, which is still the basis of this refreshed 2021 Armada.

Make sense? OK, onward to what's new.

The 2021 Nissan Armada and 2021 Nissan Kicks are set to be revealed at 11 a.m. ET today. You can watch the livestream reveal of this event via this link here that'll take you to Nissan's hosting page.

Both the Kicks and Armada were teased once over the past week. We got a quick look at the Kicks' new front end, previewing a larger grille. As for the Armada, that teaser revealed a dusty image with new LED lights poking out. Both look like refreshes, not totally new models.

Nissan's full-size SUV seems to be getting a makeover. The 2021 Nissan Armada has been teased in an image and brief video. The full reveal is coming next week, but the teaser does give us a tidbit to go on.

Tame the wild. 12.8.20 #NissanArmada2021 https://t.co/MCn5tf2Ctc pic.twitter.com/Dv3FBBwiVg

We got a quick flash of the 2021 Nissan Armada in Nissan's teaser video (the one with the new Z and Frontier), but we get a much better look in these latest spy shots. They show that it will simply be undergoing a refresh of the current model, which will include the front and rear fascias.

Though fairly well covered, we do get a solid look at lights and even the grille. The headlights are taller and potentially wider than before, and LED running lights mark the top and bottom edges. The top edge of the headlights and the grille are higher than before, almost to the top edge of the hood, making the whole nose look taller and more blunt. In the middle of the grille, there seems to be a more bold "V" design to help the Armada fit in with other modern Nissans such as the Altima. At the back, the taillights have been redesigned and could be a bit wider than the old ones. They seem to have lost the chrome edging, too.