Infiniti is inching closer to a production version of the next-generation QX50, the current version of which has soldiered on with relatively minor changes since 2008 when it was introduced as the EX35. At the 2017 Detroit auto show in January, Infiniti’s QX50 concept will preview what the new mid-size crossover will look like and what it might be capable of. It won’t be our first sneak peek at the new QX50, either—Nissan’s luxury brand showed a similar concept at the Paris auto show in September, following the QX Sport Inspiration’s initial unveiling in Beijing earlier this year.
Besides highlighting Infiniti’s Powerful Elegance design language, including a cabin-forward silhouette, the concept also previews the brand’s newest autonomous-driving technology. Unlike self-driving tech touted by some automakers as possibly rendering a steering wheel and pedals obsolete, Infiniti says its new autonomous tech will ensure drivers stay in control of the vehicles, as part of what the brand called a focus on driver engagement. We’ve heard this before, of course, and it translates to a sort of semi-autonomous capability wherein mundane driving tasks—stop-and-go traffic, highway slogs, and the like—might be handled by the computer.
Infiniti is playing coy about the next QX50’s mechanicals, but in an announcement the company hinted that the new SUV could be a future home for the nearly production-ready variable-compression-ratio four-cylinder (VC-T) that made its debut earlier in 2016. Adding to the intrigue, that turbocharged 2.0-liter engine will be displayed alongside the QX50 in Detroit. We think the new engine’s estimated 268 horsepower would make it a natural downsized replacement for the current QX50’s 325-hp 3.7-liter V-6, particularly given Infiniti’s claims that the turbo four could offer up to “a 27 percent improvement in fuel efficiency over V-6 gasoline engines of similar power output.”
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