Infiniti wants you to believe the 2027 QX65 is a spiritual successor to the FX, the brand’s genuinely daring coupe-SUV from two decades ago. The reality is more prosaic. Underneath that arching roofline and dramatic new sheetmetal sits the same platform, the same engine, and largely the same interior as the QX60 — minus a third row.
The QX65 debuted this week with a starting price of $53,990 for the base Pure trim, though the entry-level Luxe model most buyers will actually encounter rings in at $55,535. The range tops out with the Autograph at $64,135. Deliveries to U.S. dealers begin early this summer.
Strip away the press release poetry about “Artistry in Motion” and “bamboo-inspired grilles,” and the QX65 is a two-row remix of a three-row crossover. The 268-hp variable compression turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder carries over untouched from the QX60. So does the nine-speed automatic and the all-wheel-drive system.
Infiniti’s engineers recalibrated the transmission for more aggressive downshifts under braking and fiddled with the exhaust note. That’s the mechanical differentiation.
It’s a familiar playbook. BMW did it with the X6 in 2008, Mercedes followed with the GLE Coupe, and Audi has its Sportback variants. The formula is simple: take a conventional SUV, rake the roofline, delete a row of seats, charge a premium.
Infiniti is late to this game by nearly two decades, but the brand is betting that styling can compensate for mechanical sameness.
The design does work, particularly in the new Sunfire Red — a three-layer paint with genuine gold-coated glass flecks that Infiniti says descends from the GT-R’s old Regal Red. The fastback silhouette, full-width LED tail lamps, and illuminated grille emblem give the QX65 a presence its QX60 sibling can’t match. In Autograph trim with the two-tone treatment, it photographs beautifully.
Inside, the story is copy-paste. Dual 12.3-inch screens, Google built-in, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, heated front seats standard. The Autograph adds massaging fronts and heated rears.
A 16-speaker Klipsch audio system with individual sound profiling comes on Sport and Autograph trims. Available ProPILOT Assist 2.1 enables hands-off highway driving in limited scenarios. None of this is unique to the QX65.
The trade-off for that sloping roof is cargo, not compromise. Without a vestigial third row eating into the hold, the QX65 delivers 36 cubic feet behind the second row and 68 with seats folded — numbers that make the QX60’s cargo area look stingy. For buyers who never used that cramped QX60 wayback anyway, the math makes sense.
Three trims span the lineup: Luxe, Sport, and Autograph. A Premium package on higher grades adds a head-up display, and the 64-color ambient lighting with Japanese seasonal themes is a nice touch.
Active Noise Cancellation and Active Sound Enhancement work in tandem to suppress road drone while piping in a manufactured engine note — a technology that says everything about where modern luxury priorities actually lie.
Infiniti desperately needs a hit. The brand has been treading water for years, overshadowed within its own parent company by Nissan’s problems and outgunned externally by Lexus, Genesis, and the Germans. The QX80 reboot brought fresh attention, and the QX65 is supposed to sustain it.
But channeling the spirit of the FX requires more than a roofline. The original FX had a 3.5-liter V-6 or a 5.0-liter V-8, rear-wheel-drive bias, and genuine sporting intent. The QX65 has a retuned four-cylinder and a cargo hold that fits golf bags.
That’s not a revival. That’s a silhouette.
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