Bell Tolls for Infiniti QX50 and QX55
Nissan is in serious trouble and hoping Honda can save it through a merger. In the meantime, more tough decisions need to be made.
After recently eliminating one of the electric vehicles it had planned to build at its Canton, Mississippi factory (others could suffer the same fate soon), the Japanese automaker is preparing to increase production of hybrids to be built at its Smyrna, Tennessee plant, Bloomberg reports.
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It’s the old demand-and-supply equation. Similarly, Nissan has made the decision to axe a pair of models from its Infiniti luxury brand, namely the QX50 and QX55 compact SUVs.
The two are currently manufactured in Mexico (at a joint Nissan-Mercedes factory) and would be affected by the 25-percent tariffs that new U.S. president Donald Trump is planning to slap on products imported from Mexico and Canada starting February 1. Their production will end in December.
The QX50 and QX55 were the only Infiniti models to suffer a sales drop in Canada last year, the latter plunging more than 36 percent. South of the border, the former rose nearly 8 percent, surprisingly, but there’s no denying the fact it’s getting pretty old. Neither has proven competitive in the segment, with rivals from Lexus, Acura and German automakers getting all the attention.
Infiniti is actually selling more units of the larger and much more expensive QX60 and QX80.
According to one rumour, the QX50 and QX55 will be replaced by a clone of the upcoming Nissan Rogue PHEV. Citing Nissan Americas product planning boss Ponz Pandikuthira, Automotive News suggests the company is looking to move Infiniti upmarket and sell more profitable vehicles, including a refreshed QX60 in 2026 and a two-row variant called QX65.
The QX80, meanwhile, was completely redesigned for 2025, raising its game where quality and refinement are concerned. Canadian prices have gone up quite a bit as a result—nearly $20,000 in the case of the base model (Luxe at $104,995 plus freight and PDI).
The goal is to double Infiniti’s sales this year, believe it or not. Oh, and for those who’ve missed it, the Q50 compact sedan is not returning for the 2025 model year.