Luxury brand Infiniti looking to ramp up sales by amping up performance

The Infiniti brand, the upscale division of Nissan, has been around almost exactly as long as rival Lexus. But in recent years, sales have not been stellar. Not helping right now, the lineup is just two premium SUVs.

The QX60 mid-size model got some updates last year, and plays in a segment that's generally hot these days.

The bigger QX80 got a bigger makeover in 2024, with a bit of a Range Rover look, and a Range Rover-like six-figure price tag. It must be doing something right; 2025 was its best sales year ever.

Coming this spring, a new entry called the QX65, a coupe-like two-row SUV. An auto brand can never seem to have too many SUV models these days, and this new one should give a boost to the Infiniti sales charts.

If a company wants to sell upscale vehicles to upscale buyers, of course they have to offer lots of luxury, and increasingly, lots of technology. And something else that helps sell upscale cars these days: performance.

To draw attention to its intentions, Infiniti pulled a rabbit out of its hat last fall, creating a wild concept called the QX80 R-spec, with the heart of Nissan's famed GT-R super coupe under its hood. One thousand horsepower is probably overkill for a vehicle like this, but it's a possible preview of things to come.

More realistically, the big SUV's Nissan sibling, the Armada, is now available as a NISMO edition. That's a legendary name in Nissan performance. The luxury cousin is ready to sprout its own factory hot rod sub-brand, just as many premium rivals offer. Think Mercedes-Benz AMG, BMW M, and so forth. The QX80 is supposedly the first candidate to get the high-performance variant as an option.

And would you believe Infiniti is planning a return to the sedan segment? The Q50 quietly disappeared from showrooms in 2024, but work is progressing on a successor coming in 2027. Here too, the Nissan side of the company will be helping out. Infiniti's upcoming four door will get the turbocharged V6 heart of the Nissan Z up front, with at least 400 horsepower going to the rear wheels, and it will even offer a manual transmission. That combination could draw some attention.

A case of the product doldrums should be getting a cure, in Infiniti showrooms soon enough.