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Infiniti is the luxury arm of Nissan, and while the Japanese luxury automaker has made some good cars in the past, that’s not really the case for its current SUVs. In fact, of the four Infiniti SUVs that are on the market right now, U.S. News has tested three of them, and they didn’t receive great scores. Here’s a look at why Infiniti’s SUV lineup for the 2023 model year is so disappointing. 

a gray 2023 Infiniti QX50 luxury compact SUV driving on a road, experts agree on the best trim.
2023 Infiniti QX50 | Infiniti

Infiniti SUVs have not received great scores in their segments

According to U.S. News, Infiniti SUVs aren’t doing so great right now. There are four SUVs in Infiniti’s lineup, and they’re the QX50, the QX55, the QX60, and the QX80.

The car critic hasn’t given a rating to the QX55 yet, but the other SUVs in the lineup have received ratings, and they aren’t very high. The QX80 competes in the full-size luxury SUV segment, and it’s ranked dead last in the segment.

The QX80 was in eighth place out of eight luxury full-size SUVs, and it was beaten by the likes of the Lexus LX and the Lincoln Navigator. It had an overall score of just 6.7 out of 10.

The QX50, on the other hand, competes in the very competitive compact luxury SUV segment among the likes of the Lexus NX and the BMW X3. The compact Infiniti SUV ended up in 11th place out of 17 with an overall score of 7.2 out of 10.

Its ranking is actually misleading because the QX50 is the lowest-ranked luxury compact SUV that has a score. Every other SUV that was ranked below it hasn’t even been rated yet. 

The 2023 Infiniti QX60 has the highest score out of all Infiniti SUVs, but it’s still not great

Finally, the highest-rated Infiniti SUV right now is the QX60, and it competes in the midsize luxury SUV segment. It has a respectable overall score of 7.8 out of 10, but compared to its segment, the QX60 didn’t do that well. This time, the midsize Infiniti SUV did beat out some other options, so it’s not in last place.

For example, the Infiniti midsize SUV has a higher overall score than the Lexus RX and the Cadillac XT6. However, its overall score only landed it in 10th place out of 23 luxury midsize SUVs. It was beaten by SUVs such as the BMW X5 and the Genesis GV80. Overall, while the QX60 scored higher than its Infiniti siblings, it also shared some of the same problems that they had. 

The common complaints that these Infiniti SUVs shared with one another

Despite being in different segments, both the QX60 and the QX80 come with three-rows of seats. This allows both Infinitis to seat seven people, and the QX80 can seat up to eight people as an option. Unfortunately, both luxury SUVs have third-row seats that are cramped. As such, they’re spacious enough for children and small adults, but most adults will not have a good time sitting in the third-row seats.

The QX60 shares a performance problem with the QX50 as well. All three Infiniti SUVs come with one engine option, though their engines are different from one another.

The QX50 gets a 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder that gets 268 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque while being paired to a CVT. The QX60, on the other hand, gets a 3.5-liter V6 that gets 295 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque while being paired to a nine-speed automatic.

Overall, U.S. News wrote that the QX50 has an “unrefined transmission” while the QX60 isn’t as “athletic” as its rivals.

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