#InfinitiQX55

It’s that time of year again – time for our best and worst cars of 2021. Chris and I are the ones who most consistently get test cars, so it will be just the two of us putting our heads together. We’ve each picked one best and one worst car, as well as a few that deserve a mention either way.

Infiniti wants so badly to show that it is back on the comeback trail.

It wants to do that so badly that it made a big marketing and P.R. push around the QX55 crossover. It even trailered the vehicle to journalists’ homes when it came time for each writer’s turn to evaluate the vehicle.

After teasing, promises, and COVID-related delays, the Infiniti QX55 debuted a few weeks ago, as Infiniti eagerly drew direct comparisons between their new “classy” successor and the departed FX35/45. You might remember that shapely SUV headed to its demise in 2017 after it was left to rot for a few years, then renamed QX70. Infiniti chose to ignore its final QX70 name in the press materials and call it FX instead, which says something about their branding strategy, doesn’t it?

Today I’m here to tell you this “new car” is a perfect example of exactly what’s wrong at Infiniti, and the changes needed years ago, not sometime in the future.

The flood of new-car debuts continues unabated.

Why are you seeing so much news this week? Because the LA Auto Show was supposed to have been right around this time, but as with everything else, COVID canceled it. Also, with Thanksgiving next week, automakers are trying to get news out before you spend next week eating turkey and arguing politics over Zoom.

Add Infiniti to that list, with the QX55 crossover.

With the upcoming QX55, Infiniti is tearing a page from the Volkswagen Atlas’ playbook. That German manufacturer saw that it had a good thing in its midsize crossover, so it decided to get more bang for its buck by shaving a little length and height from the three-row model, creating a mildly upscale, slightly restyled two-row variant to widen the model’s net.

The QX55 is the same recipe applied to Infiniti’s QX50 crossover — a model that landed with a resounding thud in late 2018, but one whose sales have proven interesting in the grim year of 2020. Why is that, you ask?

The second-generation Infiniti QX50 is a seldom talked-about model that gets plenty of mention on these digital pages, what with its technological wizardry and big launch expectations… that didn’t seem to do the compact crossover much good when it finally reached dealerships.

No problem — maybe customers will take more kindly to its QX55 sibling, teased late last year ahead of an early summer 2020 release. But hold on a second! It appears the QX55 won’t show up at the party until much later than expected.

After teasing us with the most rudimentary sketch we’ve ever seen at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Infiniti has followed up with a secondary teaser of its coupe-styled QX55 crossover.

While there’s a hint of mystery surrounding the vehicle, most of that concerns the exterior. Based on the QX50 SUV, the 55 is likely to be mostly the same, with the largest aesthetic change being a swept-back roofline. That’s probably why Infiniti focused so heavily on that singular aspect in its marketing materials, making us wonder if this this particular fashion of automotive striptease has run its course.

Heavily obscured silhouettes work when there are oodles of hype already surrounding a distinct-looking vehicle. The same cannot be said when an automaker pursues an increasingly common industry trend — like a sloping ceiling. But this isn’t an issue unique to the Infiniti brand or even the automotive sector. Companies know they have to chum the waters more often to excite the ever-fickle media cycle. Unfortunately, with everyone now hip to the practice, it’s rapidly losing its effectiveness.

Regular readers of these digital pages are well aware of the pressures facing Nissan’s Infiniti brand. While the premium marque’s status is better than in years past, it is not where the brand would like it to be. U.S. volume has declined since 2017, and the marque recently gave up on Europe.

Perhaps a slinky new crossover will draw eyes — and buyers — in an overly crowded segment?