Nissan is Infiniti's luxury car brand, and it initially tried to go after things like the BMW 3 Series or Mercedes S-Class. But the brand new QX80 Monograph concept that's been revealed today suggests the Range Rover and Cadillac Escalade were its targets.
Poised to make an auto show debut in New York pretty soon, the XC80 is described as a design study “signaling the brand’s intention to further develop its standing in the full-size luxury SUV segment.” So that means you'll see some of this design in the production car that could be a year away.
Now, there's no question that it looks a lot more modern than what we have today. But if you give any car thin LED headlights that float off the body, cooling intakes and big wheels, it will look like a concept. What we're trying to suggest is that they kept a lot of the current QX80's genes, and it looks nothing like a BMW X5 or Mercedes-Benz GLE.
We'd put this in the same category as the Lincoln Navigator concept or the Lexus LX - a modern, tech-heavy interpretation of the classic SUV shape. It looks powerful without using too many angular shapes (think of the Urus).
Infiniti doesn't let us see the interior of the vehicle, but we are impressed with the QX80 Monograph's floating roof, created through thin black pillars and tinted glass.
“QX80 Monograph shows our concept of luxury and style on the road, and is an exploration into how we could enhance our future Infiniti offering in the luxury SUV segment,” Roland Krueger, President of Infiniti, said.
No technical details were provided either. But we wouldn't be surprised if they underpinned it on the same Nissan Patrol bones that are also used by the Armada. Under the hood, we should still see a 5.6-liter V8 good for around 400 horsepower. But if Infiniti ever wants to change things up, that variable displacement tech seems very promising.
Now, there's no question that it looks a lot more modern than what we have today. But if you give any car thin LED headlights that float off the body, cooling intakes and big wheels, it will look like a concept. What we're trying to suggest is that they kept a lot of the current QX80's genes, and it looks nothing like a BMW X5 or Mercedes-Benz GLE.
We'd put this in the same category as the Lincoln Navigator concept or the Lexus LX - a modern, tech-heavy interpretation of the classic SUV shape. It looks powerful without using too many angular shapes (think of the Urus).
Infiniti doesn't let us see the interior of the vehicle, but we are impressed with the QX80 Monograph's floating roof, created through thin black pillars and tinted glass.
“QX80 Monograph shows our concept of luxury and style on the road, and is an exploration into how we could enhance our future Infiniti offering in the luxury SUV segment,” Roland Krueger, President of Infiniti, said.
No technical details were provided either. But we wouldn't be surprised if they underpinned it on the same Nissan Patrol bones that are also used by the Armada. Under the hood, we should still see a 5.6-liter V8 good for around 400 horsepower. But if Infiniti ever wants to change things up, that variable displacement tech seems very promising.