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Infiniti QX55 crossover coupe teased again, hints at FX looks and a surprise out back

Infiniti plans to launch five new vehicles in the next three years. We got an abstract squiggle of the first one in August, when Infitini teased the coming QX55 crossover coupe during Monterey Car Week. Said to act as a medium that would communicate design language from the dearly departed FX crossover, the QX55 is meant to infuse a lot more design mojo to the conventional QX50 crossover that it's based on. The Japanese luxury brand just dropped the second teaser, this one revealing a swath of greenhouse and shoulder, and indeed, an arc of chrome trim that could have been traced from FX production drawings. The attention-getter here is what comes behind the greenhouse: A tailgate extension with the makings of a stubby trunk.  Positive reviews have come from a group of media to whom Infiniti showed a matte gray pre-production version of the QX55. The front diverges from the QX50 only in a few details, while the roofline isn't as coupe-ish as it might be because designers wanted to ensure adequate headroom for rear seat passengers. The steep rake has been saved for the area aft of the C-pillar, convincing one scribe to write that "the QX55 reminds us most of the Audi Q8, which also lacks swooping silhouette and looks more like a lifted hatchback." The rear fascia is said to look "cleaner and more modern than Infiniti’s current midsize crossovers," even though the jutting rear presents a vertically flat lower hatch that looks "a bit boxy." Having moved the license plate holder to the bumper, the wide expanse is home to a larger Infiniti badge and logo script with an "I" that serves an as-yet-undisclosed function. At the edges come taillights with a "sharp new piano key design." One site summed up with, "this is a gorgeous crossover coupe that will turn heads." The QX50 is expected to debut in the first three months of 2020, with an on-sale date sometime next summer.

2023 Infiniti QX50 gets new Sport trim and more

The Infiniti QX50 is a perfectly fine SUV with attractive styling and great standard features. Perhaps its most significant fault is that its rivals exist, as the BMW X3, Audi Q5 and Cadillac XT5 all do the same things, just as well (better, in some cases), and for less money in higher trims. Even so, the QX50 is worth a look if you’re in the market, and the automaker just updated the SUV with a new trim level, better standard features and a new maintenance plan. Infiniti offers five QX50 trims for the 2023 model year: Pure, Luxe, Sport, Sensory and Autograph. The base Pure trim starts at $40,300, and pricing reaches $57,350 for the top trim. Buyers can opt for AWD in lower trims for a $2,000 upcharge, and the Autograph trim adds AWD as standard equipment. Infiniti Premium Care is standard for all QX50s sold in the United States, which includes oil changes, inspections and tire rotations for up to three years. The headline change for 2023 is the new Sport trim. It gets dark-painted 20-inch wheels, unique badging and gloss-black exterior trim. Inside, the Sport adds semi-aniline leather upholstery and a 12-speaker Bose audio system. Those upgrades build on the Luxe trim, which starts at $43,600 and brings most of the goodies the base Pure trim forgets. That means standard wireless charging, remote start and rear passenger alerts. All QX50s get a decent suite of advanced driver aids, including forward automatic emergency braking, pedestrian detection, rear automatic braking, blind spot monitoring, lane departure warnings and automatic high beams. The 2023 QX50 is too new to have received complete crash test results, but its predecessor scored “Good” in crash tests and “Superior” for front crash prevention systems. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Infiniti to move forward with 'Nissan-plus' strategy for its future cars

Sales at Infiniti in 2019 were down in the dumps. While the market as a whole fell 1.2%, Infiniti brand sales were down 21%. Nissan wasn’t too far behind, with its sales sliding 9.9% year-to-year. None of those numbers look great, but Nissan COO Ashwani Gupta still sees a path forward for NissanÂ’s luxury brand, Infiniti. “We will bring back Infiniti as Nissan-plus, in terms of product and technology," Gupta told Automotive News. “Infiniti will be great again.” Historically-speaking, Infiniti has been “Nissan-plus” for a long time over the years. Many vehicles in its lineup have been re-skinned versions of Nissans with some luxury thrown into the mix, and thatÂ’s not necessarily a bad thing. There have been some standouts, namely the original Q45 with its pioneering active suspension and shockingly sporty dynamics. And then there are the G coupes and sedans, vehicles that are still desirable to enthusiasts today. View 31 Photos InfinitiÂ’s current enthusiast offerings revolve around the Q50 sedan and Q60 coupe, both of which are rear-wheel-drive (or all-wheel-drive) cars with sporting intentions. ThereÂ’s no equivalent Nissan sold in America, but the Q50 is the Nissan Skyline in Japan. ItÂ’s impossible to know what the fate of these rear-drive-based cars will be, but a few possibilities lie ahead. Infiniti could really lean in to the “Nissan-plus” nomenclature and repurpose the new Altima as an Infiniti sedan. More likely, however, is a move to electrification. The Nissan IMs Concept and Infiniti Q Inspiration Concept both suggest that the company is interested in creating electric sedans. A “Nissan-plus” electric sedan sure sounds a whole lot better than a front-drive-based rebadged Nissan. InfinitiÂ’s biggest problem at this second is the lack of new product on the market. Its QX50 crossover is the most recent big redesign weÂ’ve been witness to, but it needed replacements yesterday for the QX60, Q50 and Q60 to be competitive with others in those segments. Both Lexus and Acura are outpacing Infiniti by a wide margin. The path forward as “Nissan-plus” also suggests Infiniti aims to be a premium brand, rather than a full-fledged luxury brand competing toe-to-toe with Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. ThatÂ’s consistent with how the brandÂ’s cars have stacked up in recent years, even as it collaborated with Mercedes to put an Infiniti badge on the GLA crossover.