Infiniti to Intro JX CUV Next Spring

Nissan’s Infiniti luxury brand will introduce a new cross/utility vehicle, the JX, next spring.

The ’13 model will have three rows of seating and be able to accommodate seven people.

Infiniti already offers a large utility vehicle, the body-on-frame QX SUV, but has been pondering for some time a 3-row CUV.

“We have no 3-row crossovers…so that’s certainly an area that I’d be interested in,” Nissan product planning chief Larry Dominique told Ward’s in September 2009, mentioning the lack of an Infiniti model that competes directly with Acura’s MDX.

Infiniti’s current CUV offerings include the small-midsize EX and midsize FX models.

The 7-seater JX will allow Infiniti to continue to grow sales, as well as conquest luxury buyers who may find current 3-row CUVs lacking.

“There aren’t a lot of choices for luxury families today,” says Infiniti Americas Vice President Ben Poore. “The all-new Infiniti JX is the 7-passenger antidote to the ho-hum luxury crossovers that are out there right now.”

Poore promises an easy-access third row, plus a new-generation telematics system for the JX.

Sketch of the ’13 Infiniti JX.

The upcoming CUV will wear Infiniti’s current design language and a “crescent cut” greenhouse influenced by the 2009 Essence concept car, the auto maker says.

Infiniti sales were up 17.5% in the U.S. through March, as an 11.7% jump in FX deliveries helped to offset a 14.7% dip in EX demand.

Volumes for both models, at 3,122 and 1,592, respectively, pale in comparison with the competition. The MDX racked up 11,085 deliveries through March, a 24.5% increase, and it holds a 51.4% share of Ward’s Large Luxury CUV segment.

Infiniti’s 2010 tally of 103,411 light-vehicle sales was 27.5% ahead of its 2009 results, positioning it at the lower half of the luxury-brand pack.

Infiniti will show a concept JX at August’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The production JX will debut at this November’s Los Angeles auto show.

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