2004 Infiniti Fx35 Silver And Tan, Low Miles And Amazing Cond. Awd, Bose Stereo on 2040-cars

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2025 Infiniti QX80 First Drive Review: So close to being great

NAPA, Calif. – Confession time. I kind of forgot that the Infiniti QX80 exists. Sure, itÂ’s gotten a refresh or two in the past few years, but it's essentially been the same big olÂ’ three-row SUV since 2010. IÂ’m pretty sure I used to call it Fudgie the Whale. Or maybe it was Pudgie the Whale. Like I said, itÂ’s been a minute. Now IÂ’ve gotten a taste of the 2025 QX80 and hey, what do you know, there is a lot to like. The third-generation of the body-on-frame SUV goes big on tech, style and comfort, making it a respectable triple into the right-center gap. However, its ride quality keeps the QX80 from being a home run. FudgieÂ’s V8 was nixed in favor of a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 good for 450 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. Sure, it doesnÂ’t sound quite as good as the older powerplant, but it produces more power and better fuel economy to boot – 18 mpg combined with rear-wheel drive and 17 with four-wheel drive. The old one managed only 15 mpg with four-wheel drive. With low-mpg numbers like these, thatÂ’s actually a huge difference. The new turbo V6 is well-mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission, putting the power down to the rear wheels as standard in Pure and Luxe trims, or all four wheels as an option with those trims or as standard with the higher Sensory and Autograph. There are no complaints about power delivery. It has more than enough grunt for merging and the transmission downshifts readily for easy passing. There are five drive modes as well as a Personal setting, but I spend my time alternating between Standard and Sport. The latter tightens up the steering and powertrain, allowing the SUV to hustle fairly well on a twisty road without much body roll. ItÂ’s no Mercedes-AMG GLS, but starting at under $85,000 including destination, itÂ’s not nearly as expensive either. ItÂ’s when youÂ’re just toddling around town that the ride quality becomes a problem. All but the base Pure trim comes equipped with an “Electronic Air Suspension” and “Dynamic Digital Suspension,” the latter function monitoring the QX80Â’s motions to electronically apply damping forces. This isnÂ’t necessarily anything new in the automotive world, but other manufacturers just do it better. Up and down motions are well-controlled, but IÂ’ve been in row boats with more side-to-side stability. My head gets tossed around like IÂ’m piloting a Jeep on a dusty back road, and all IÂ’m doing is driving the paved streets of Napa Valley, California.

Infiniti previews a new... something

Sometimes we get a teaser image and accompanying statement where we can at least surmise what the automaker is up to. This is not one of those times.
The automaker, in this case, is Infiniti, and the teaser image shows only a grille with a similar shape to what you'd find on most of the company's products, albeit with a curvier mesh. Which isn't much to go on, really, and the accompanying statement (which you can read below in its forty-word entirety) doesn't give us much more. All it says is that the vehicle in question - which we'll wager is a concept car instead of a production debut - has "style and substance" embodied in a "vision... on a scale not seen before" from Infiniti.
Given the French peppered into the release and the encroaching chronological proximity of the Paris Motor Show, we'd guess that's where Infiniti will reveal this latest but of inspiration, but just what form it will take is still a mystery.

Infiniti is pulling out of Western Europe, cutting models

BEIJING — Nissan's premium brand Infiniti has announced it will exit Western Europe early next year, as it restructures its global operations and focuses on the world's top two auto markets. Infiniti said it will discontinue the Q30 sedan and the QX30 sport-utility vehicle and cease their production by the middle of 2019 at Nissan's manufacturing factory in Sunderland, England. Both models are sold globally but produced only in Britain. The QX30 is sold in the United States. The move comes as Infiniti seeks to divert its resources to markets with bigger opportunities, such as China and the United States, from a region where non-European premium brands are struggling to compete against local players such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Nissan also recently scrapped plans to build its new X-Trail SUV in Britain amid the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, saying it had taken the decision to optimize its investments by building the next generation model in Japan. "Western Europe remains the most challenging and competitive region for premium cars," Infiniti's chief spokesman, Trevor Hale, told Reuters. Infiniti's sales in western Europe almost halved last year to 5,800 vehicles. In addition to the tough competition, the Japanese premium brand, headquartered in Hong Kong since 2012, has struggled to effectively meet emissions and other regulatory requirements in the region, Hale said, referring to stringent Euro 6 emissions requirements and other regulatory challenges. "The commercial reality for Infiniti in Western Europe is that there is simply no visibility of a viable and sustainable business, especially given the regulatory challenges," he said. Infiniti said an exit from Western Europe will allow it to focus on its initiative to electrify a good portion of its product portfolio from 2021 and discontinue diesel offerings. The brand plans to focus more on its SUV lineup in North America, bring five new or significantly-redesigned vehicles to China over the next five years, improve quality of sales and residual value and realize more synergies with Nissan. "This is all part of Infiniti's vision to become a top challenger brand in the premium segment," it said. As it prepares to withdraw from Western Europe, Infiniti said it is working to find alternative opportunities for employees who would be affected, consulting with employee representatives where necessary and identifying opportunities for transition and training support where appropriate.