Driven: 2025 Infiniti QX55 — Time To Say Goodbye

Nissan is in some dire straights as of late, and after a failed merger with Honda, the Japanese automaker’s future is uncertain. This outlook extends to Nissan’s luxury brand, Infiniti, which only sold 58,070 vehicles in all of 2024. Of those sales, a meager 3,721 were accounted for by the 2025 Infiniti QX55, a coupe SUV version of the compact QX50. The QX55 may be a niche product, but combined with the QX55’s 10,722 units in 2024, the two models represent nearly 25% of Infiniti’s total sales volume in the United States. The QX50 and QX55 will be discontinued after the 2025 calendar year, taking nearly a quarter of Infiniti’s sales with them. What the heck went wrong with these crossovers, and where does Infiniti go next?

We recently spent a week driving a 2025 QX55 Sensory, the top trim level of Infiniti’s coupe SUV. Infiniti introduced the QX55 in 2021 as a 2022 model year vehicle, based on the second-generation QX50 that was released back in 2017 as a 2019 model. Put simply, the QX55 already felt four years old when it was brand-new, and it has only been given minor updates in the past four years since going on sale. Infiniti was hoping to recapture the magic of the FX, a coupe-like SUV that was sold during the brand’s golden era in the mid-2000s. But while the FX felt like a trendsetter, the QX55 seemed like it was always playing catch-up.

Exterior Looks: At Least It’s Pretty

Infiniti has its fair share of issues, but styling has rarely been one of them. The QX50 is an attractive car, making it a nice starting place for Infiniti’s designers to transform it into a coupe. You can spot a QX55 from a QX50 via its slightly revised front fascia, reshaped headlights, and sloped roofline that’s meant to pay homage to the FX. We can see what Infinti was going for, but the coupe roof doesn’t fully mimic the FX’s rear-drive proportions.

A single set of two-tone 20-inch wheels comes on all three trim levels, meaning it’s not easy to tell them apart from the exterior. The QX55 is offered in six exterior colors, one of which (Dynamic Sunstone Red) is only available on the Essential and Sensory trims. Only three of those hues – Graphite Shadow, Hermosa Blue, and Black Obsidian – are free, while Slate Gray, Dynamic Sunstone Red and Radiant White cost between $695 and $900. Dynamic Sunstone Red is easily our favorite color, adding a pop of energy to the QX55.

Interior & On-Board Technology: Hello 2017

As we mentioned in the opening section, the QX55 joined the market in 2021, but it feels much older than that because the QX50 on which it’s based was released in 2017. Some minor adjustments have been made since then, but the switchgear, screens, and surfaces are mostly the same. This leads to an interior that doesn’t feel like it justifies the QX55’s price tag.

Heated Zero Gravity seats come standard on the Luxe trim with the Essential and Sensory trims upgrading to ventilated front seats. The top Sensory trim brings semi-aniline leather, heated rear seats and rear climate control, a head-up display, four-passenger lumbar, wood trim, ambient lighting, and a motion-activated liftgate. We enjoyed the comfortable Zero Gravity seats, which are available in three color combinations: Graphite, Stone, and Monaco Red. The rear seat is particularly impressive, offering more legroom than nearly every compact crossover on the market. Trunk space is compromised slightly from the QX50’s volume, but it’s still more spacious than most coupe SUVs.

Infotainment: How Was This Not Updated?

Every QX55 gets an eight-inch upper touchscreen and a seven-inch lower touchscreen, which have different fonts, graphics, and controls. The top screen only handles the built-in map, phone mirroring, and the back-up/360-degree cameras, while the bottom one is used for audio, climate, and menu controls. Speaking of the 360-degree camera, which is available on the top two trims, it’s low resolution with clear dividing lines for each view. It all looks disjointed, and feels outdated. Infiniti has added wireless CarPlay to the mix, but Android Auto still requires a wired connection. A lackluster six-speaker audio system is equipped on the Luxe trim, but the Essential and Sensory get a nicer 16-speaker Bose system.

Performance: Advanced Tech, Minor Gains

Infiniti only offers a single engine in the QX55; a 2.0-liter turbocharged Variable Compression (VC-Turbo) four-cylinder. This engine is capable of running high compression to increase performance but can switch to low compression to be more efficient, thus balancing the best of both. The idea sounds cool, in theory, but the output figures and fuel economy aren’t more impressive than a modern four-pot without this complicated technology.

Performance Impressions

The lone engine in the QX55 is just… fine. It uses a 2.0-liter unit that develops decent output for the class, but there is no hotter option or larger engine available for additional performance, nor is a hybrid available for superior fuel economy. We measured 0-60 mph in 6.4 seconds, which is respectable but far from class-leading. A continuously variable transmission does its best impression of a traditional automatic, dropping the revs to simulate gear changes during acceleration. A CVT is fine for a mainstream crossover like a Nissan Rogue or Toyota RAV4, but feels out of place in a luxury vehicle. All-wheel-drive comes standard on all QX55 trims, which is a nice touch.

Ride and Handling

It feels like the QX55 lacks personality. There’s nothing particularly sporty about it, though it is reasonably comfortable. A soft ride combined with a quiet cabin makes the QX55 an adequate highway cruiser, but we’d be hard-pressed to say it’s superior to anything else in the compact luxury SUV segment. Overly light steering and drive modes that do little to alter the powertrain do nothing to inspire excitement while driving.

Fuel Economy

The QX55 is rated at 22/28/25 mpg city/highway/combined. Those numbers are far off an electrified competitor like the Lexus NX Hybrid (41/37/39) and even the four-cylinder BMW X3 xDrive30 handily bests it (27/33/29) while producing similar power and more torque. We averaged 23 mpg during a week of driving.

Verdict & Pricing: On Its Deathbed

The 2025 QX55 is on its proverbial deathbed, ending production after this year. Infiniti didn’t do much to keep this vehicle updated throughout its brief life, so we aren’t sad to see it go. A $50,150 starting price for the Luxe trim sounds reasonable, until you realize a comparable Lexus NX 350 AWD costs $45,900 and the NX 350h Hybrid is only $46,600. Why would you ever get the dated and less efficient Infiniti? Things don’t get much better higher up the trim ladder, with the Essential and Sensory priced at $55,100 and $58,650, respectively.

Even when it was brand-new, the QX55 felt like it was chasing a market led by more exciting, sportier coupe SUVs like the Audi Q5 Sportback, BMW X4, and Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe. Trying to label it as a “spiritual successor” to the FX was purely a marketing exercise, as the QX55 shared nothing with the trend-setting SUV that proved to BMW and Mercedes that a Japanese luxury automaker could build a sporty and competitive SUV. The QX55 is neither sporty nor competitive, so we can’t see any reason to choose it in a crowded segment, aside from a stylish exterior and roomy back seat. With the QX50 and QX55 soon-to-be-gone and nothing lined up to replace them, Infiniti will need a hard rethink on how to capture entry-level luxury customers.