2004 Infiniti QX56

Nissan and Infiniti aren't missing a trick with their sparkling new Canton, Mississippi truck plant. Wisely, they're morphing its principal product, an all-new, full-sized pickup truck platform, into as many logical spin-offs as possible. Nissan's already made the Big Three nervous with its all-new, and clever, feature-packed Titan pickup truck, and its companion offering, the Armada SUV. Predictably, they're not quite finished.

The all-new QX56's chiseled fender outlines accent the body sides, and a functional roof rack tops it all off.

Close on the Titan's/Armada's heels is the new Infiniti QX56—a luxurious, family-sized sport utility that's just in time for a rising tide. Infiniti chose a remote corner of the Hawaiian Island of Maui to debut its QX56 and, while the narrow, circuitous roads that lead to the tiny resort town of Hana were a reasonable test of its capable steering and suspension, there were no superhighways to prove the QX56's long distance, over-the-road touring prowess. That said, we had enough seat time on Maui's winding windward island trails to know the QX56 has all the attributes it needs to combat its chief rivals: Cadillac's Escalade, the Lincoln Navigator and the Lexus GX 470. We think they can't discount the venerable Chevrolet Suburban/GMC Yukon XL, vehicles that neatly cut across a lot of classes.


Before finalizing its latest offering, Infiniti researched the QX56 in depth against upscale target consumers. What they learned won't surprise you. Big-buck buyers want big vehicles. They equate size with luxury and power, and they insist on beaucoup features. "The QX56 incorporates everything they said they wanted," insists Infiniti marketing chief, Edward Baldwin—the newest in high technology, elegantly presented. Clinic attendees told researchers they also wanted stand-out styling nuances, and that they loved the QX56's distinctive, barrel-side looks. Infiniti's savvy big truck specialist, Larry Dominique, predicts a 27-percent increase in full-size-SUV demand over the next six years. Understandably, Infiniti wants its share.


For years Infiniti played second fiddle to Lexus, trailing the luxury leader by a wide margin. 2003 witnessed a dramatic turnaround. Benefiting from an overall luxury vehicle sales increase, chart-topping J.D. Power ratings, comparatively low incentives, numerous all- new showrooms and several hot-selling new models, Infiniti cracked the 100,000-unit barrier and shows no signs of slowing. The division needed a big SUV, a larger, more feature-filled model than their old QX4, to sustain this momentum and be considered a full-line manufacturer.

Inside real wood and brushed aluminum accents compliment yards of Sojourner leather.

From a styling perspective, the QX56 shares the Armada's (they dropped the Pathfinder prefix in January) step-roofed body shell. A wide, fish-mouthed horizontal-bar, waterfall grille tops a rectangular air intake, and both these openings are flanked by enormous (and undoubtedly expensive, should replacement ever be needed) xenon headlamp assemblies. Chiseled fender outlines accent the body sides, and a functional roof rack tops it all off. Styling is subjective; in this case, Nissan's designers left most of the "Hey! Look At Me!" design tricks to its edgier FX models. But the QX won't offend folks who may have grown up with Suburbans, and their take-no-chances, predictable good looks. The design theme buzzwords were "Massive Precision." Fair enough—on a canvas this big, it's hard to paint a fussy picture and, thankfully, Infiniti didn't try. Our verdict: handsome, especially in lighter colors.