Infiniti Looks to Go Rogue – With Its Own Version of the Nissan Crossover

Desperate for new products, Infiniti is searching for a weay to get back into the booming compact crossover segment. The likely plan: come up with a unique, upscale variant of the mainstream Nissan Rogue. Headlight.News has more.

Nissan’s Infiniti brand has become little more than a third-tier player in the luxury market, a situation that won’t be helped by plans to drop the compact QX50 and QX55 crossovers at the end of this year.

But the Japanese marque is working up plans to replace them with an all-new entry – internally known by the codename i33C – based on the next-generation Nissan Rogue.

Whatever it were finally called, the Infiniti version of the crossover would feature unique sheet metal, a much more lavish interior and additional, upscale features, reported Automotive News. It might also offer buyers an electrified drivetrain package.

Infiniti in distress

Launched in 1989, Nissan’s luxury brand has never been able to keep up with key high-line competitors – especially rival Toyota’s Lexus marque which launched the same year.

At a time when the U.S. market had its best year since the COVID pandemic first hit, Infiniti sales were down 10.2% in 2024, to a modest 58,070. By comparison, Lexus sales rose 7.9% during the same period, with deliveries totaling 345,669. Infiniti dropped another 5.3% year-over-year during the first quarter of 2025, delivering just 13,165 vehicles.

It hasn’t helped that Infiniti has struggled to craft a cohesive brand identity backed by solid products. If anything, it will begin next year with a meager mix of two model lines, including the flagship QX80.

With a 2024 share of just 2.8% in the profitable U.S. luxury market, some analysts have been questioning whether Nissan should even continue to support the Infiniti brand considering the parent company’s financial woes.

Fleshing out the line-up

Infiniti’s product plans have been in turmoil, further complicated by what has happened since Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election. Not only is the automaker scrapping the Mexican-made QX50 and QX55 but it has delayed plans to launch its first battery-electric vehicle as a result of the Trump administration’s threat to end EV tax credits.

The only product line now known to be set for near-term production: a midsize two-row crossover due to reach U.S. showrooms during the second quarter of 2026.

Infiniti National Dealer Advisory Board Chairman Will Bonilla told AN the brand must use “any means necessary” to expand its offerings.

So, the i33C project could prove essential for the brand. The big problem is that it won’t be ready until sometime in 2027, according to insiders.

More Nissan/Infiniti News

• Infiniti Downsizing its Line-Up
• More on Infiniti’s Product Plans
• A Week With the 2025 Nissan Rogue Platinum AWD

What’s an i33C

The idea of sharing Infiniti and Nissan products off the next-generation Rogue platform has apparently been in the works for five years, according to Automotive News. If the i33C project gets the final greenlight it would likely adopt a different name in production, Nissan crossovers designated QX models.

The project would echo the moves made with the highline Infiniti QX80 which shares its basic underpinnings with the mainstream Nissan Armada. The luxury model would have a relatively similar silhouette but get unique sheet metal and many key components, possibly including the suspension, would be upgraded, as well.

Insiders indicate the Infiniti version would be offered with an electrified drivetrain. One possibility would be the Nissan e-Power system, though a plug-in hybrid is also reportedly under consideration.

Beyond giving Infiniti a much-needed new product line, the i33C project could help parent Nissan in several ways. It would improve economies of scale, potentially reducing production costs for the Rogue itself.

Meanwhile, the new model would likely be assembled at the company’s plant in Smyrna, Tennessee – which already produces the Rogue. That would help improve the factory’s capacity utilization, perhaps allowing for the return of a third shift. And by producing the Infiniti in the U.S. it would reduce the brand’s exposure to the new Trump auto tariffs.