This year’s Geneva auto show marks the first time Infiniti has unveiled a brand-new product outside its U.S. sales stronghold, as the exhibition plays host to the all-new 2009 Infiniti FX crossover.
Built on the prodigious FM platform—which also underpins the Nissan 350Z, the Infiniti G sedan and coupe, the Infiniti EX35 crossover, and the Infiniti M sedan—the FX will remain a five-seater and continue to wear rakish styling.
In 2009 Auto Show:
The styling is more evolutionary than anything, so you’ll still be able to pick an FX from a crowd at first glance. Nevertheless, the new version’s headlamps are much faster, cutting back into a point along the fender, which themselves have gained more pronounced bulges.
The grille is wider and shorter, which serves visually to reduce front-end height. At the rear, the lower portion of the liftgate is less curved and more upright, much like that of the smaller EX35. And since all new vehicles apparently have to wear fender vents, the FX now has them, too. At least they’re functional—unlike most fender baubles—and Infiniti claims they reduce front-end lift by five percent.
The FX will be available, as before, with a V-6 and a V-8. The company is playing coy with V-6 details, but the V-8 is an all-new 5.0-liter unit rated for a hefty 390 horsepower—those numbers are up from 4.5 liters and 320 horsepower in the previous FX45. The displacement bump means, of course, that the top model will now be called the FX50.
Infiniti will release details on the V-6 version at this month’s New York auto show, and we expect the V-6 model to also jump in displacement, from 3.5 liters to 3.7. V-6 FXs will continue to be available with rear- or all-wheel drive, with the top-dog FX50 having all-wheel drive as standard.
For 2010, Infiniti will debut diesel and hybrid powertrains, but the diesel is unlikely to make it to the U.S. at that time. Instead, look for a hybrid FX, probably with a V-6 mated to electric motors.
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