Infiniti’s plan to drop a 600-plus-horsepower QX80 on dealership lots by late 2026 is dead. The company has pushed the project back more than a year, now targeting a 2028 launch that would coincide with the big SUV’s mid-cycle refresh.
The reason, according to Infiniti Americas Vice President Eric Ledieu, is deceptively simple: “As we have started to work on the project, we’re realizing that power alone is not sufficient.”
That’s a revealing admission from a brand that has spent the better part of a decade struggling to define what it actually stands for. Infiniti hasn’t fielded a performance model since the Q50 Red Sport 400 died after 2024. Its last attempt at a performance sub-brand, the Infiniti Performance Line, flickered out after five years in 2015.
Now the company wants another shot at building something to rival BMW M and Mercedes-AMG, and it’s already stumbling on the timeline.
The project traces back to the QX80 Track Spec Concept shown at The Quail last year. Enthusiast response was strong enough that Infiniti fast-tracked it for production. The plan called for a boosted version of the 3.5-liter twin-turbo VR35DDTT V6, north of 600 horsepower, wrapped in sportier bodywork.
But quick wins require execution, and Infiniti decided it wasn’t there yet. The delayed version will now include upgraded suspension, bigger brakes, active exhaust, more aggressive aerodynamics, and a unique interior. “It’s muscled up. It will not look like the car that’s on the road today,” Ledieu said.
The benchmark here is the Cadillac Escalade-V, which stuffs a 682-horsepower supercharged V8 into GM’s full-size platform and charges well over six figures for the privilege. It’s fast in a straight line but drives like what it is — a big truck with a big engine. If Infiniti actually delivers on the promise of a complete dynamic package, it could carve out real territory.
Nissan’s Nismo division is handling development, though the finished product won’t carry the Nismo badge. Infiniti wants its own identity for this performance line, though it hasn’t committed to a name. Red Sport is the working title, but a new moniker may emerge. The indecision on something as basic as naming tells you where this program really sits in its maturity.
The delay is strategically defensible. Launching a half-baked performance SUV would do more damage than launching nothing at all, especially for a brand that has burned through credibility with years of stale product and abandoned initiatives.
But pushing back to 2028 means Infiniti will be competing in a landscape that’s shifting fast. Cadillac will likely have refreshed the Escalade-V by then. BMW and Mercedes aren’t standing still either.
Ledieu promised the extra time will be “worth the wait.” The QX80 itself, finally redesigned for 2025 after nearly a decade on the same platform, proved the company can deliver when it commits. Whether that commitment holds through two more years of development — with Nissan’s finances always looming in the background — is the real question.
A 600-horsepower full-size luxury SUV with genuine handling chops would be unlike anything else on the market. But ambition without follow-through is just a press release, and Infiniti’s history is littered with those.
Share this Story