It was Infiniti’s most interesting SUV, and now it’s gone. The QX70—the renamed FX—has been axed from the lineup, effective immediately. It was first reported by Automotive News and since confirmed by Car and Driver that there will not be a 2018 QX70. The model may return someday, but if so, it will be in a much different format.
When it originally made its debut back in the 2003 model year as the FX, the sporty crossover SUV—which Infiniti nicknamed the Bionic Cheetah—was one of the original performance-themed fastback-coupe utility vehicles. Recently, however, others—chiefly BMW and Mercedes-Benz—have copied and improved on the idea it championed, and the QX70 lately has been seeming old, as we mentioned in our most recent review. Infiniti only sold 6261 units of the QX70 in the United States in 2016, although that was up from 5737 in 2015.
The Automotive News report also noted that the QX70 could potentially make a return to luxury automaker’s lineup but in a much different form. The QX70 stands out with its sporty looks and gets much of its performance credibility from its rear-drive-based powertrain, but the future version could be derived from the Nissan Murano, which has a front-wheel-drive platform. Infiniti would neither confirm nor deny this part of the report.
The moves are all part of the brand’s overall shuffling of its entire SUV lineup. First up is a new QX50, then a revamped QX80, which was previewed by the QX80 Monograph concept. Last year, Infiniti also showed the QX Sport Inspiration concept, shown below, which was billed as the “next-generation mid-size premium SUV.” That could potentially preview the aesthetics of the future QX70 but is too small to be its exact replacement. Expect more updates in the coming auto-show season.
from Car and Driver BlogCar and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/2tE7kJd
via IFTTT
0 comments:
Post a Comment