The littlest member of the Infiniti crossover family appears ready to turn in its badge at the end of its product cycle.
Infiniti’s bite-sized crossover, called the QX40 QX20 QX30 (thanks, Johann), and the Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class are a set of twins resulting from a tawdry relationship between Mercedes-Benz and the Japanese brand. Based on remarks made by Infiniti reps at the Detroit Auto Show, it doesn’t appear there will be a redux.
In a conversation with Motor Authority, Infiniti president Christian Meunier told that site’s Managing Ed and TTAC alum Aaron Cole that the QX30 is unlikely to mirror the GLA going forward. From the exchange:
“(The QX30 is) not a very successful product. We’ll keep selling it for now…but this is not a product that has a future beyond its current life. It will be replaced in the future by an all-Infiniti platform”.
It is a damning assessment of a product when the man in charge of the company point-blank calls the thing “not a very successful product.”
Regardless of its current fortunes, it took approximately three eons and one ice age for Infiniti to realize much fruit from the tie-up with Benz, as the QX30 appeared for the 2017 model year despite showing up in concept form in Geneva all the way back in 2015. Even though it shares a large list of parts bin items, the Japanese unit was priced about $5,000 south of ze German twin at introduction.
What’s next? Our man Chris Tonn reported on the Infiniti QX Inspiration Concept car that kinda-sorta debuted at the Detroit show this week. Whatever production vehicle emerges from this concept will surely not be endowed with suicide doors and Lite Brite interior; however, it does point the way to an electrified future for the brand.
Infiniti has stated its entire range will be electrified in some manner in the next few years, a tall order for a company that offers exactly zero hybrids at the current – pun intended – moment. The QX60 Hybrid crossover and Q50 Hybrid sedan have both vanished from showrooms, as has the big Q70 Hybrid. Perhaps the company intends ramp up its presence in the electrified market all at once. They do have Leaf engineers nearby, after all.
[Image: Infiniti]
Perhaps we are now reaching the market saturation point for compact near-luxury crossovers. With everyone jumping on the same bandwagon, the weaker players get shaken out.
This car is a nonsense. I drove it. It drives exactly like Clubman but it is tiny inside. Who would want it? It is crampoville
I think we are. I think the Lexus UX will suffer the same fate as this Infiniti — and they won’t have Mercedes to blame.
Not just crossovers; pretty much every vehicle sector for sale outside of full size pickup trucks. You can probably pick 2 models in every segment to euthanize and nobody in the market would care.
While I could careless about CUV things this vehicle always looked out of place compared to other Infinitis. Especially the interior which didn’t follow the brands design language at all.
I thought it looked like a POS when I first saw it, very out of place in the Infiniti lineup. The mfg seems to agree.
Let’s go to the tape:
MY17 QX30 AWD LUXURY
2017 INFINITI QX30 AWD 4D SUV LUXURY
BASE MMR
$18,800
Avg Odo (mi)
34,835
Avg Cond
4.3
Typical Range
$17,900 -$19,700
So for something starting at 35K, this isn’t good but isn’t horrible, however 15K depreciation in only 24mo amounts to $625 and all sorts of fun once the warranty runs out (soon). I kinda feel sorry for the stupid folks who bought this thing, lesses may have come out ahead. My prediction is these things will be worth <= 15,0 by next year.
Where are Infiniti’s in general? One of the reasons we added a used Q60 (really G37) to our fleet 2 years ago because of the epic depreciation. I got a 43K car for 25K and can’t stop smiling about it. The original owner likely took a beating on it at trade in. I think these cars are massively under-rated, it checks all the boxes: smooth, stylish, quick, comfortable, luxury touches and reliable. Only downside is a small trunk and a bit of MPG plenty associated with the throaty V6.
The Q60 coupe is holding nicely, MY15 AWD still trades for about 20, RWD only a little bit more. The Q50 sedan in MY15 is trading at 16 for base, add a grand for premium, and “sport” is at 21. QX60 AWD is trading at 21,4. So it seems the desirable Infinitis take a large dive and then seem to hold 20s even in MY15 which is four years old now (all cars about 35K miles in avg).
Thanks for the info. Seems being the second owner is the sweet spot if you want to swap out every 4 years. We will likely hold onto this car for another 2 or longer. And since its already paid off it we can exercise our options at will.
My hatred of CAFE-crushed roofs gets some amusing visual corroboration in that crumpled C pillar.
So… Much… Styling.
No surprise there. I happen to know this car is more expensive to manufacture than the GLA it’s based on.
Please tell us more :)
Brexit’s going to be the end of the QX30.
The GLA is uglier but you see them on the road. Even here in NNA headquarters-ville I’ve seen 4 QX30s ever. Probably all employee leases.
Indeed. I must see 100 new QX80s for every QX30.
Unfortunately, my wife loved the styling (definitely the target audience) and so we (thankfully) leased one – mind you, it’s a dirt cheap lease (for their $45K flagship model) at $400/month, nothing down 15K miles/year but, with one year to go, I CANNOT WAIT TO GET RID OF IT. Crappy, jerky transmission around town (dumbest shift programs I have yet experienced), numerous rattles and squeaks (one that has taken 6 weeks to fix – parts needed from Germany), a teeny screen that yet manages to blind you (with brightness that cannot be turned down appropriately), ‘intelligent’ key that intermittently does not work, numb steering. Incredibly tight inside, no power tailgate.
There are only three good things with this car; fuel economy is quite outstanding considering my leadfoot (33mpg), The LED ‘smart’ headlights are very good (and startup is cool to watch) and the Aroundview using the 4-camera system is something I use continuously. Oh, and I guess it has not broken down. Counting the months….
“numb steering”
While this is reasonable considering its a CUV we found the same thing in another MB product. Before we got our Q60 we test drove a Benz C250 as they were comparable in cost and noticed the same thing. The steering was so light and overboosted it seemed to wander all over the road. Also the throttle mapping was pretty much the opposite between Benz and Infiniti. For better or worse just thinking about acceleration in the Q60 (3.7 V6 version) caused it rush foward. While in the Benz you had to physically press HARD on the go-pedal and wait. I’ve owned several turbo cars, in fact we trading in a T5 Volvo at the time and this wasn’t a lag problem – the car was just slow to response. My wife was extremely disappointed in the Benz experience. After years of reading about these autobahn cruisers the one we test drove was a numb as a Camry. I found the interior to be a confusing mess of buttons plus the seats were rock hard.
Mini rental review: Way smaller and lower than it looks in photos. Comfy to sit in as a chair, but claustrophobic. Absolutely awful to see out of or drive. The start-stop system reminds you that you didn’t actually get a luxury car. The infotainment looked like something slapped together in 15 minutes in Powerpoint. Embarassing to be seen in.
Good riddance when the time comes.
All the brand cache of a fancy Nissan, with the reliability and parts prices of a Mercedes.
How could it have failed?
“They do have Leaf engineers nearby, after all.”
Because the Leaf is so successful after all.
I’m not surprised it’ll die, but for two reasons nobody seems to realize.
Number 1 is the engine, the M270 which Mercedes no longer uses. It’s the newer M260 in the new A and updated C Class. Mercedes sweet-talked Nissan back in 2013 to put in an engine plant at Decherd TN to make the M270 for use in the Alabama-built C Class. Infiniti use the CLA 208 hp tune in the QX30. And now, what are they supposed to do? Retool the plant after only four years of actual production to supply the M260? I can imagine Nissan is just delighted at being stuck with a dinosaur engine so quickly. The Japanese don’t throw four year old engine designs away like the Germans seem prone to do. BMW pulled off the exact same maneuver with the N20 to B48. The Japanese spend the time to get it right first time, not to change their mind after the proverbial five minutes. Investment decisions reflect the long life they expect,
The second thing is that the electrical system of the QX30 is a lash-up of the CLA donor platform and Nissan standards to get their own accessory stuff to work. Enough articles at QX30 introduction time detailing that snafu which had to be worked through in development. Wasn’t that first CLA a great vehicle or what? The QX30 is a CLA/GLA first gen underneath.
I’d say Infiniti/Nissan’s terse statement about scrapping the QX30 reflects the going over semi-scam Mercedes subjected them to, which just burns them up with annoyance. A waste of money, and only themselves to blame in the end.