Crossover coupes have become the trendiest cars on the market, as luxury SUV buyers seek to have their cake and eat it too by combining lofty ride height with a sporty, sloping roofline. Sometimes, the look feels natural — and works; other times, the SUV ends up looking like a hulking Volkswagen Beetle. One of the ones that worked — indeed, one of the first that worked — was the super-stylish Infiniti FX (later known as the QX70) from the 2000s. Now, it seems Infiniti is bringing it back…at least in spirit.
The company’s newest SUV will be the QX55, a coupe version of the QX50 crossover slotting, as the number would suggest, between it and the larger QX60. It will rival crossovers like the BMW X4. The latest teaser image from Infiniti shows a rear resembling FX’s distinctive arch-shaped roofline, which Infiniti says will be a design influence on the forthcoming SUVs.
All automotive timelines are subject to change in the corona-verse, nut Infiniti has set a QX55 launch date of November 11, 2020. (The launch will happen at 8:55pm EST, if you want to set your countdown clocks accordingly.) The QX55 should hit dealers in the spring of 2021 as a 2022 model year vehicle. No word yet on pricing, but the QX50 starts at $37,250 and the QX60 starts at $44,350, so a base price a little above $40,000 would probably be a good bet.
Reviving a popular vehicle in a popular segment seems like a no-brainer for Infiniti. Indeed…so does launching any sort of new vehicle. The lineup has been largely stagnant as of late The fuel-inefficient flagship QX80 SUV has been kicking around in present form since 2010, and the Q60 is the only Infiniti model currently on sale that has been overhauled since 2013.