Infiniti couldn’t resist the success of TLX concept, so unexpectedly today they announced the release of QX55.

The QX50 failed miserably, let’s see how the QX55 performs in this competitive market.

 

Hopefully they don't put a CVT tranny on. I am actually a Nissan fan. Had many generations of the Z cars.

 

I doubt... I am sure they learnt their lesson with the new QX50. Infiniti was able to sell more of a 5 year old
model than a brand new 😂

 

Is there actually a Nissan product that does not have a CVT transmission? It simply lets these cars down.

 

The variable displacement engine and the variable geared transmission spent a lot of time wondering which was supposed to do what.

 

The problem with Infiniti is Nissan.

Nissan tried hard to compete with Honda and Toyota. Their marketing strategy was low prices and that wasn’t sustainable. As a result, they didn’t invest in Infiniti to scale up.

Now not just nissan but Infiniti suffered from this decision. Infiniti has only one respectable car, the Q50 - 400HP. Nissan is laying off 1,000s of employees. I highly doubt if the QX50 or 55 will help the company. Infiniti Europe is shut down as of this summer, which is horrible.

Last but not least, in this hot suv/crossover market, Infiniti couldn’t sell the QX30 and now the QX50.

What do you guys think about Infiniti’s future?

 

Being a prior Infiniti owner of the I35, G35x and G37x sedan, I really want Infiniti to succeed. The problem with the QX50 is the CVT transmission and the outdated infotainment system as well as their exorbitant high prices. Otherwise, the vehicles they produce are pretty solid and the interior does feel more luxurious than the Acura vehicles. Infiniti is known as the sportiest of all the Japanese luxury brands. The Acura TL/TLX/TSX could not compete performance wise with the Infiniti G/Q50 sedans. Sometimes, I still miss my 330 hp G37x sedan which I traded in for the RDX.

I hope the QX55 succeeds. I actually like the exterior design of the QX50, almost as nice as the RDX. Although I love the front of the RDX, I feel that the exterior design of the QX50 is better than that of the RDX. I don't really like the dragonfly taillight design. It feels like something is missing in the middle.

 

Nissan is a dumpster fire. They don't do anything particularly well.

The fact is, despite the performance shortcomings Honda has done a much better job than Nissan giving public what they want. Literally every Acura is better than the equivalent Infiniti.

 

I do believe Honda and Acura are better in quality than Nissan/ Infiniti products. However one has to accept the reality that the Nissan Rogue SUV has been ruling as the best selling SUV in US market for quite a few years. I can’t understand what made public flock to that car. When I drove it several years ago, it didn’t feel particularly good in anything, the interior plastic quality was meh. Not sure what changed recently. May be it is the pro pilot software which apparently is better than Honda / Acura equivalents. So there is hope for Infiniti.

 

Believe me there is one reason: cost

I hear everyone saying Infiniti is more expensive than Acura. That’s not always true. Infiniti gives some insane incentives that Acura never does (at least in Canada). This is the reason behind Nissan’s jobs cut and financial issues. They have sales numbers but no margin.

 

Preach for us kurt!

 

Not to mention that Nissan almost inadvertently merged with FCA a few months back because of Renault. Too bad... That would've been fun...

 

Their commercial always got my attention, especially frames 0:09 - 0:12.

 

⬆️ If that ass can't sell a car, you're in big trouble!

 

Hahahah si true. And $5-10K incentives, then you gotta close the shop.

 

Isn’t the Q55 supposed to be the next FX? Or at least a coupe version of the crossover? If anything it doesn’t mean Q50 is a flop, they’re just introducing a new product that Acura doesn’t have in their lineup.

It’s basically like the BMW x4.

I think everyone is too quick to judge and assume. The QX55 is definitely for the niche market.

 

You are correct! It seems like it will be a coupe.
We never said Q50 is a flop, but QX50.

QX50 is struggling to sell even 2000 unites per month, we aren’t judging too quick at all. This new coupe will not change Infiniti’s success and failure. Also this was announced literally after Acura introduced the Type S.

 

Announcing the QX55 after the Type S is intentional to steal some thunder from Acura but they’re not even in the same class/tier so it doesn’t really affect anything.

RDX has a lot of issues still. Infiniti QX50 actually has a much more stable infotainment system than the RDX and has the nice LED glow strips that Acura is adding onto their MDX.

 

OTOH, as a car ......

 

Exactly! Infiniti wanted to leverage the Type S but even my friend who love Infiniti and follows the brand heard for the first time
about the QX55. Another fail!

 

I get it. You love Acura. You want Infiniti to fail. I just want both to succeed in their own ways and keep competition healthy.

 

He may be a bit overzealous, but Infiniti is a non-entity in the car game.

 

Sorry I really don’t want Infiniti to fail. I believe Infiniti had lot of potential in early 2000s with the G series and Fx.

I think it’s sad to see Infiniti and Acura losing their focus and producing cars that are not very relevant in the car industry. Now, Acura learnt (to some extent at least ) and came up with the RDX and now the new TLX Type S. it seems like Acura is back in the business but Infiniti isn’t showing any signs of success. This is not Infiniti’s fault as I wrote earlier but Nissan. Building cars and selling with 10k incentives won’t solve their problem. At least in Canada, Infiniti sells ~50% less cars than Acura and ~50-60% less than Lexus.

Now i am sure a few people will say Infiniti is more expensive, so you can’t compare to Acura. That’s true but when you apply their incentives, it’s the same Acura. I have been at the dealer and done this test. Price difference isn’t much. The funny thing is Porsche and Infiniti sell very similar number of cars. So is cost an issue?

 

Quite possibly. I think most buyers don’t think about incentives before coming to the dealership. Many just look at MSRP and see if it is in their price range before researching further into incentives.

If I see a fully loaded QX50 MSRP for $55k and a fully loaded RDX MSRP for $47k, which car do you think I’ll be going for if my budget is only between $40k-50k?

Have you noticed Tesla actually puts their incentives with their pricing online directly underneath MSRP? They do that because they want buyers to see how low they can get a Tesla for. Other manufacturers don’t.

Also, I’ve noticed Infiniti has less dealers, at least around my area. In order for me to get to an Infiniti dealership that’s an hour away, I would have to drive past three Acura dealerships. Heck I would have to drive past two Lexus dealerships before I reach the Infiniti dealership.

 

Considering that Infiniti sells about the same number of global units as Acura what does that say about Acura (both are around 200K global units)?

I think both brands have made some missteps along the way (Acura being too conservative, Infiniti thinking they are more than they are) and both have big ass parent companies that have useful tech for them - wind the clock back 5 years and the Infiniti fans are roundly mocking the Acura folks versus right now we have Acura landing the RDX successfully while the QX50 is a middling success.

Considering the small volume they sell it should really be no surprise that both brands have their ups and downs - they cannot afford heavy investments long term because they simply don't make enough money. They make a bet, hope it pays off and if the timing is right they might make enough for another round but all it takes is an economic meltdown like in 2001 and 2008 and their plans don't matter. The investments Acura is making now have to be able to drive up their volume - probably into the 300K units/year range to justify continued investments. Infiniti is going through a trough right now since the parent company is getting their asses kicked but I'm sure they'll hit a cycle as well where there's a bunch of investments made.

 

desigThis is a good assessment. Infiniti has their ups and downs, and so does Acura. Remember the horrid Acura shield grille? It honestly depends on their timing and what the market wants at the present time and the exterior design. The RDX's success may be short-lived. Lexus is probably redesigning their NX since it is getting pretty old and we'll see what happens then. I would've probably gone with the NX if Lexus redesigned that car for 2019 since Lexus has a better track record compared to Acura and is known for their longevity.

 

interesting to note; non-car-people view infiniti as a SUV brand

 

Thank you buddy! Honestly I enjoyed readying your logical and rational post.

I just want to add one thing that Acura has a very good track record form the integra and NSX days. Now this might be my Acura biased opinion

 

I agree and disagree with you. I don’t think any buyer in todays world walk in to the dealer before some sort of research. But if Infiniti gives people the perception of “expensive and luxury “ brand to themselves and then sell their cars at 15-20% discounts. All I can say, they should fire their execs. This strategy isn’t helping them but just putting them out of business

 

Why short lived? Acura was selling 50K units + with second generation RDX. Very close to NX. Let’s not make assumptions. Go check the sales numbers and reviews.

 

Have you seen all the complaints on the RDX to the point where many review sites stopped recommending the RDX? The RDX is far from perfect and the infotainment issues has not been resolved yet, over a year from its release. There’s even a class action lawsuit against Acura over RDX.

If this trend continues there’s going to be a problem. I’ve been on Infiniti forums for a very long time and there’s not nearly as many complaints as on here and certainly, no class action lawsuits on there.

I’m also reading a lot of posters on here saying that they will not consider Acura in their future vehicle purchase. I have never encountered this many complaints on a forum compared to Infiniti or Lexus forums. This does not scream ‘success’ to me. Fine sales numbers I give you. Many are even considering Hyundai over Acura. I mean, really?

 

I am not an expert and I don’t own an RDX yet. But let me ask you a couple of questions.

If people are complaining and sites aren’t recommending, how come there isn’t any impact on the sell numbers? I am sure you understand the impact of positive and negative reviews in our world.
I am sure you follow the car industry, how can you compare the RDX and QX50??! Do you know their ratio? QX50 sells leas than 1/3 of RDX. Do you expect the ratio of complains to be the same?

 

I don’t understand why you’re so hung up on sales numbers. Again, sales numbers does not equal success. Profits do. If Acura has to pay millions of dollars over this lawsuit then it eats into their profits and that means less money on research and development into better non problematic vehicles. Thinking that sales numbers equals a great vehicle is a logical fallacy.

Plus, you’ve never owned an RDX so you don’t understand the hardships of actually owning one to actually experience the headaches many owners are experiencing, including myself. I’m not going to recommend this vehicle to anyone else until Acura fixes the infotainment issues. It actually becomes dangerous on the road when you’re trying to fix a system that stops working on you mid-drive. My girlfriend in the car with me when the issues happened said she will never buy another Acura. She has a Toyota RAV4 and it has been problem free since she bought it. We’re planning to get her a Lexus when the next gen RX or NX is released.

And it does impact sales numbers. I’m pretty sure that RDX will sell way more if more reviewers recommended it and there’s not a pending lawsuit on RDX infotainment issues. CR dropped its recommendation on the RDX. The RDX sells well because it is one of the cheapest entry-luxury level CUV's out there backed by a big name brand from Honda. It has nothing to do with quality, but price. Walmart has a lot more customer traffic and sales than Target, but it doesn't mean Walmart cheaply made stuff is better "quality" than what Target sells.

 

Thanks for your message. But I am a number guy. Let's touch base once the RDX stops selling like Infiniti QX50 (don't forget the ratio is 1/3 right now as you wrote there are fewer complaints about the QX50, of course, there will be) and reviews started saying "Don't buy the RDX". The most recent review posted on Youtube says:
Respect your opinion and I pray that the QX55 sells more than the QX50, so we see the Japanese premium brands succeed! It hurts me to see a brand new car like the QX50 is selling 2,000/month vs. Audi Q5 6,000/month.

 

Suit yourself. Go buy an RDX and see for yourself. Come back when you’ve actually owned one and tell me your experience with it because mine hasn’t been as good as these reviewers. Most of them don’t spend much time with these RDX’s and only spend a couple of hours/days. When I first sat in it for the first month it was the best vehicle I’ve owned. It's definitely got the 'wow' factor especially in the beginning. After a couple months well, my opinion has changed. Acura definitely has a long way to go.

Good luck to your future vehicle purchase.

 

I have had the car for a year, and have had a couple of infotainment problems, but I still think it is a great car.

A good example of a problem just happened, and there is a thread on it, and that is the RDX messing up the time. Something got screwed up with the automatic time zone or daylight savings time stuff. I think I fixed it. But, if not, then I will just set the time manually, like in all my previous cars, and just move on from there.

Some folks will get all upset, but I won’t. What the car does, as a car, it does great, IMO. If I have to pare down my infotainment demands, so be it. My prior BMW and my current Accord don’t do any of the very advanced carplay stuff either, and what the RDX does do is still better than what those cars have/had.

To me, the RDX is a car, not a travelling cell phone.

 

Agreed, but sometimes Infotainment fails and I can't select drive mode, which does affect it as a car. Sometimes, I'll get a flashing BRAKE warning when there's nothing in front of me at random times, causing panic. This DOES affect functionality as a car, especially a safety issue.

And a car's basic functionality nowadays is have the radio/bluetooth functionality work. On rare occasions, I don't even get that. I'm not asking the car to do much, and I'm not asking much from the infotainment system. In fact, my old Infiniti from 2007 with Nav and Tech had more functionality. If I have to compare a 2019 car that has less functionality than a 2007 Infiniti, there's a problem.

 

Thanks, buddy!

I know one thing in fact that Acura or Audi, they are all very dependant on technology and as a result causes many issues. But to stay relevant to this topic. Hope all your issues are resolved. I will share my experience once I get my RDX.

 

Nailed it!!!

I consider a car reliable as far as the engine, transmission, brakes and etc are good. Infotainment and HUD aren't my top priority. When reviewers bash Lexus' infotainment and they don't recommend the car, it simply makes me laugh. I know people don't buy cars because the car doesn't offer Apply car play. It drives me nuts. I know we all use waze, streak music and etc but for God sake, focus on the main features and not just things that we all get excited for a week or so then forget.

When I was buying my TL, I was making sure to buy a car with pedal shifters. I used that feature 10 times in my life lol!

 

If you look at my previous posts, I thought that too. Eventually, you do get sick and tired of how poorly it performs.

When you’re driving at night and all your systems shut off, you’ll understand what I mean.