Infiniti QX60 a return to form
Image and popularity remain a powerful force when selling anything: music, clothing or even choosing what to drive. It’s why some long-hallowed brands bite the dust after decades of popularity. It’s not that they became any worse, it’s that their image was no longer popular.
This is why fewer consumers choose to buy station wagons or minivans anymore. They don’t have the street cred of an SUV with massive, knobby off-road tires and bucolic names. Yet station wagons, minivans and SUVs are designed with three rows of seats — for the most part — and boast a shape made for schlepping people and their debris.
Then again, there are other drivers who are over the fiction that car buyers buy crossover utility vehicles because they actually need four-wheel drive. We all know that most people buy them for their added ride height, roominess and practicality. Given most CUVs’ lack of off-road authority, it’s no wonder that automakers ladle on the luxury instead.
Certainly Infiniti, Nissan’s luxury brand, has found success fielding luxury crossovers that travel the urban and suburban jungle, not the forest primeval. With the redesign of the three-row, midsize QX60 crossover, the brand is looking to reignite passion for a brand that’s seen declining sales since 2017.
But is the all-new 2022 QX60 enough to revive interest in Infiniti?
The 2022 QX60 is offered with twowheel or all-wheel drive in ascending Pure, Luxe, Sensory and Autograph trim. While it shares its underpinnings with the Nissan Pathfinder, its duds are a bit more upscale in appearance.
Climb inside and you’ll find the Infiniti QX60 retains three rows with room for seven people. Ordering the top-of-the-line Autograph model nets you second-row captain’s chairs with a removable center console and seating for six. All of the expected luxury cues are present and accounted for, including wood trim, trizone automatic climate control, a 12.3-inch touch screen with wireless Apple CarPlay, wired Android Auto, a digital instrument cluster, six USB ports, 17-speaker Bose
Performance Series audio system and acres of quilted leather, including atop the instrument panel. The overall effect is one of indulgence, a fact accentuated by its massaging front seats.
Once it’s time to move, you’ll find the QX60 to be a fairly potent performer. Its 295-horsepower 3.5-liter V-6 carries over from the previous QX60 and is shared with the new Nissan Pathfinder. But it’s paired with a nine-speed automatic transmission, rather than the continuously variable automatic transmission used previously. The new transmission transforms this vehicle into a true luxury cruiser. Its power is far more accessible, as the driveline is far more responsive.
If there’s any criticism, it’s that even as good as it is, there’s a certain generic quality to the vehicle, as if it’s somewhat lacking in the charisma department. But the 2022 Infiniti QX60 is a major step in the right direction, a reminder that Nissan hasn’t lost its ability to field a true luxury competitor.