Infiniti Makes it Official: Here’s What Models are Coming…and Going

As Headlight.News first reported, Infiniti will drop its two base SUVs as it restructures its product line-up and business model. But it will add its first EVs and some other new products. Here’s the complete story, now made official as the automaker meets with its dealers to outline the new program.

As it struggles for traction in an increasingly competitive luxury vehicle market, Infiniti will make an array of changes to its product line-up, the automaker told dealers Friday – confirming a report first published by Headlight.News.

The automaker will end production of its two base models by December 2025, Infiniti officials were set to reveal to dealers gathered in snow-covered New Orleans for the annual National Automobile Dealers Association convention.

But the luxury arm of Nissan Motor Co. also plans to add some new products to its portfolio, including at least two sportier takes on existing products, a new QX65 model, and the brand’s first two battery-electric vehicles, dealers will be told.

What’s going away

“We’re evolving our portfolio to meet the needs of today’s consumers,” Marleen Towakim, manager of Infiniti USA Communications, told Headlight.News, confirming the site’s earlier report.

Infiniti has already abandoned the passenger car side of the market, the last product line, the Q50 going out of production last April – though the brand expects to still have some of the sedans on dealer lots through at least mid-2025, Yoawakim said.

Next to go:

• The QX50, its lowest-priced crossover-utility vehicle; and
• The QX55, a more coupe-like take on the Q50.

Both will go out of production in December 2025, Yowakim confirmed, while adding that they’re expected to remain in stock “through summer of 2026.”

What’s coming (Part I)

The most significant news comes with Infiniti confirming it is finally set to get into the EV market, something it has promised to do for more than a decade. It originally planned to launch a luxury version of the Nissan Leaf but decided it didn’t have the range, performance and other features that luxury buyers wanted. Since then, Infiniti has rolled out a series of EV concepts, including the 2023 Qe – which is expected to have a significant influence on the two production models.

Those will be:

• The Vision QXe sport-utility vehicle; and
• The Vision Qe sedan.

For now, Infiniti is only saying that they will be launched “in the coming years,” though sources tell Headlight.News the current goal is to launch production in 2026, likely marketing the EVs as 2027 models.

More Infiniti News

• Exclusive: Infiniti Set to Announce Shake-Up to its Product Line-Up
• A Week With the Infiniti QX80 Autograph 4WD
• Honda to Take Lead in Merger with Nissan

What’s Coming (Part II)

Look for some other product updates and additions, dealers are being told during their annual NADA “Make Meeting.”

The QX60 crossover will get “minor changes” this year as a 2026 model adopting features of the QX80 – which, Yowakim said, introduced “the future design direction of our portfolio.”

A sportier QX65 package, with a more coupe-like design, “will be launched next year,” she added.

Meanwhile, new “Sport” versions of both the QX60 and QX80 will debut “this year.” She did not reveal whether they will be badged 2025 or 2026 models, however.

On paper, at least, Infiniti appears to be abandoning the “entry luxury” segment of the market which, for one, Lexus fills with its UX and NX crossovers. Infiniti plans to target potential buyers with low-cost versions of the updates QX60 and new QX65.

Sales struggles

The luxury arm of Nissan Motor Co. has spent years – and billions of dollars – trying to stand up alongside key rivals such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Toyota’s Lexus division. But it remains, at best, a second-tier player despite recently being ranked second among luxury brands in the 2024-2025 Automotive Reputation Report.

Infiniti ended 2024 selling 58,070 vehicles in the U.S., down 10.2% compared to the 64,699 ordered the year before. Passenger car models like the Q50 and Q60 were off 24.5% for the year, SUV demand tumbling 8.4%. By comparison, the overall U.S. market had its best year since the start of the COVID pandemic.

In the luxury segment, Lexus sold 345,669 vehicles in the U.S. in 2024, a 7.9% increase. The Toyota luxury division sold more of its compact NX crossovers – 74,488 – than all Infiniti models combined. Perhaps more concerning, according to several analysts who discussed the Infiniti plans, the relatively new Genesis brand sold 70,816 vehicles in the U.S. last year, an 8.3% year-over-year increase.

Rethinking its strategy

That’s made things particularly difficult for the brand’s 197 dealers who last year sold an average of just 24 Infiniti vehicles each.

To help retailers stay in the black, some are now being given permission to combine their Infiniti and Nissan dealerships. They’ll need to maintain separate showrooms but other operations will be combined. The luxury brand has not revealed how many of the 197 retailers it ended 2024 with will be impacted.

“This is not a change in strategy for the brand,” Yowakim said, stressing such a move will be made “on a case-by-case basis,” and only with retailers who meet “very strict requirements.”

But several of those close to the Infiniti brand told Headlight.News that the Nissan luxury marque is struggling to come up with a winning formula. And it’s feeling more pressure than it has in years.

“I’m not surprised” by the moves Infiniti has made lately, said Erin Keating, the senior analyst with Cox Automotive,” especially considering the proposed Honda-Nissan merger announced a month ago.”

That merger is scheduled to wrap up in 2026 and remains a work in process, said Keating. But it’s going to be a high priority to figure out what to do not only with Infiniti but Honda’s own luxury brand, Acura, which has itself struggled to position itself as a strong and profitable player in the high-end market.