2018 Infiniti QX80 update revealed

Infiniti has chosen the 2017 Dubai Motor Show to reveal the mid-life update of its QX80 large luxury SUV. The 2018 Infiniti QX80 will go on sale in Australia during 2018, with the update focusing on the car’s refinement, luxuriousness and the inclusion of more active safety equipment continuing the brand’s recent product onslaught.

Locally, the QX80 is Infiniti’s fourth best-selling car having amassed a total of 64 sales thus far in 2017 – a huge 42.2 percent improvement on 2016. Whilst the smaller Q30 and Q50 are the company’s highest selling cars locally, the QX80 proves that there is still a market for larger luxury SUVs in Australia.

According to Christian Meunier, Infiniti’s Global Division Vice President, “The new 2018 Infiniti QX80 has been designed and engineered to allow customers to travel everywhere in luxury. It strengthens the brand’s position in the global full-size SUV segment, which currently accounts for more than half of all full-size luxury car sales around the world. The new model will further enhance our profile in an area of the market that prizes modern exterior design, high-tech cabins engineered for relaxation, and effortless, empowering performance.”

The most obvious changes to the 2018 Infiniti QX80 have occurred on the outside, with a new look incorporating a sharp new Infiniti corporate grille and sleeker headlight design, as well as new wheel designs ranging from 20- to 22-inches in size. Whilst the car’s overall dimensions have not changed – 5,340mm long, 1,925mm tall, 2,030mm wide and with a 3,075mm wheelbase – because of the front end’s redesign, certain elements have. For example, the bonnet’s leading edge extends 90mm further forward, and sits 20mm higher.

Despite this increase in height, the 2018 Infiniti QX80 now appears to be longer, thanks to the wider and sleeker headlights, which now feature redesigned LED lighting units. The rear end of the QX80 has received a less comprehensive update, with redesigned LED tailights and a much wider chrome insert making it appear lower and wider than before. The lower bumper has also been redesigned for a more modern look.

Aside from colours and trims, the QX80’s cabin appears to be relatively unchanged from the pre-updated model. The overall layout is identical and whilst the leathers used in the cabin have been upgraded and spread to the dashboard and door trims, the overall ambience is fairly similar with no changes to the car’s infotainment system, nor the steering wheel or dials.

The rear seat entertainment screens have been upgraded from 7- to 8-inch units, with a higher resolution screen mounted on the rear of each front seat and with greater support for a variety of languages (up from just three to 31), inputs (USB, AUX, Blu Ray and HDMI inputs are accepted) and even functionality, with the ability to show independent content on each screen – the old QX80 could only show the same content on both screens.

Greater attention to sound deadening has been paid with the updated QX80, with Infiniti claiming that thanks to further sound deadening from the use of wider soundproofing behind the dashboard panel, denser floor carpets and additional materials around the cargo area to help absorb higher-frequency noises and vibrations from the road, a five percent reduction to the car’s interior road noise levels at highway speeds has been achieved.

The 2018 Infiniti QX80’s available range of active safety technologies has been improved, with lane departure warning and prevention, radar cruise control, distance control assist, predictive collision warning, forward emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring and intervention and backup collision intervention now available. The company’s SmartView digital rear-view monitor is also standard fit.

Infiniti is yet to confirm when the updated QX80 will land in Australian showrooms, but with the update already in production, we’d guess a first half of 2018 arrival. Infiniti’s recent product onslaught continues in 2018, with a new mid-size SUV dubbed QX50 to be revealed shortly at the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show certain to turn the Japanese manufacturer’s fortunes around in Australia.