A yr in the past, Infiniti previewed 4 future fashions it deliberate throughout its journey to electrification. Again then, these have been the Q80, which we’ve; the QXe battery-electric crossover and its sedan equal, the Qe; and the QX65 a midsize crossover coupe. We anticipate this to be a rakish model of the present three-row QX60 — the corporate’s finest vendor within the U.S. — akin to Audi’s Sportback crossovers and BMW’s X4 and X6. Infiniti instructed us the QX65 would channel the segment-defining sportiness of its FX crossovers from years in the past, promising a “fashionable two-row different within the cluttered midsize crossover phase” on debut in 2026. Automotive News now tells us the QX65 goes to be Infiniti’s challenger to the Lexus RX. That is an surprising improvement so far as we’re involved, much more so when AN characterizes the purpose as, “Infiniti hopes the brand new mannequin can be a gross sales engine.” Â
Infiniti’s already carried out a rakish model of the QX60: It was known as the QX70, offered from from 2013 to 2017. Earlier than that, it was the very FX that was as soon as the sort of fashionable and sporty icon Infiniti desires to resurrect. We would wager most millennial fanatics nonetheless bear in mind the callsign FX. We would wager nearly none of them may let you know what a QX70 seems to be like although it was just a renamed FX37. The QX70 did not do properly within the U.S. due to issues that predated its arrival, akin to getting old design, the tighter packaging that comes with sportiness, and an absence of actual innovation.
There isn’t any purpose to not attempt once more. However going after the RX? That is like when automakers say they are going after the Porsche 911 or the Mazda Miata. Solely as soon as in since 2012 has Lexus offered lower than 100,000 RXs within the U.S. About the one factor that dents its armor is a worldwide calamity; going again to 2005, solely the 4 years after The International Recession and the third yr of the pandemic lower RX gross sales to 5 figures, and even then, solely two of these years dipped beneath 90,000 models. Extra importantly, we suspect that if there are RX customers searching for a sporty different, that group of customers just isn’t massive sufficient to make something — in AN‘s phrases — “a gross sales engine.” Sometimes, that is what the QX60 could be for, not the QX60’s coupe-ified sibling. Even the Acura MDX, a powerful vendor within the RX and QX60 aggressive set, does just a bit greater than half the RX’s annual gross sales within the U.S., a quantity that is about double the QX60’s annual gross sales in the intervening time.
A dealer who’s apparently seen the design instructed AN the QX65 has “an aggressive design that will not attraction to the soccer mother.” We look ahead to Infiniti’s official take and the true QX65.
Outdoors of that, AutoForecast Options says the QX50 and QX55 will not get successors when their present generations exit manufacturing in 2026. As a substitute, there are rumors of a hybrid model of the Nissan Rogue that will enter the lineup beneath the departing QX50. If this have been to come back true, 2027 may see an Infiniti lineup with a brand new entry-level hybrid crossover, the four-cylinder QX60 and QX65, the QX80, and two battery-electric autos within the manufacturing Qe crossover and sedan.