Infiniti Seven-Seater

Japanese carmaker Infiniti has teased tantalising details of a sleek seven-seater that could go on sale here in the next year. The model, expected to be named the JX, looks set to be a swoopy, futuristic crossover with some unusual design cues.

But first, ‘Who or what is Infiniti?’ many of you may be wondering. Though very well-known in the USA, where the brand has long competed with upmarket models from Honda and Toyota, Infiniti has only been officially sold in the UK for a few years.

The Infiniti brand is Nissan’s luxury range. Sold as a separate brand, Infiniti cars focus on luxury, performance and technology.

Similarly to Honda’s Acura brand and Toyota’s Lexus lines, Nissan’s Infiniti models can often be found in other parts of the world, especially Asia, under their parent badges. Often, however, these models lack some of the top-end luxury fittings and equipment found in the upmarket versions sold in North America and Europe.

Currently, Infiniti UK markets the G Coupé and the G Convertible, as well as the G, M, EX and FX models. Unfortunately, none of the current UK models offer seven seats.

Infinity JX Luxury Crossover MPV pictured above.

In other markets, most notably in North America, drivers can opt for the Infiniti QX, which offers seven seats. The QX was originally based on the Nissan Patrol but switched to the similarly-sized Armada from 2011.

The top-end model, the QX56, is a real beast and has a 5.6-litre V8 engine driving all four wheels through a seven-speed automatic transmission. Huge it is and pretty it ain’t but the QX certainly provides all seven occupants with plenty of luxury and speed.

Infiniti shoppers seeking performance thrills can in some markets go for the FX50. Based on the same platform as the high-performance Nissan 370Z coupé, this 5.0-litre rear-wheel drive coupé-styled, four-door crossover can hit 100kph from a standstill in 5.0 seconds.

Unfortunately, the FX only has room for five inside. As Infiniti UK currently no seven seater, we’ll have to hope and pray that the next seven-seater from this Japanese prestige marque is offered in Britain.

What appears to be on the card is the aforementioned JX super crossover. We have known something was on the cards for about a year now, as it was revealed back then that the company had registered the trademark for ‘JX’, which slots nicely into the existing model-naming sequence.

Infiniti has just released a few tantalising details of the JX. The company has confirmed that the model will be an all-new design and will offer three rows of seating in a luxury crossover.

Infiniti says the 2013 JX will have seating for seven people and insists access to that back row will be straightforward. The JX is slated to appear on the market sometime next year between the spring and the middle of the year. Infiniti says it will be sold both in North America in Europe.

Initially, a JX Concept will be shown at the illustrious annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August this year. This will be followed by the appearance of a production-ready JX at the Los Angeles Auto Show three months later in November.

The JX looks likely to take some of its styling cues from the swoopy Infiniti M. The first visuals show the JX to be a sleek and curvy machine, with an unusual ‘kinked’ C pillar integrating the fast-back roof into wrap-around tail light clusters.