It was thirty-six years ago that Nissan spun out its luxury brand Infiniti to offer more upscale vehicles in its various global markets. It wasn't until 2013 that it introduced its three-row QX60 SUV to the North American market, however, originally calling it the JX35. It was that same year that Infiniti renamed all of its vehicles to have a standardized model designation. The last decade has been good for QX sales from the company, with the QX60 leading the lineup. As more companies offer luxury SUVs, however, its sales have remained strong, with 2023 QX60 sales an impressive 77% higher than the prior year. (to be fair, 2022 was also the tail end of the Pandemic and the year of supply chain shortages for every manufacturer). 2024 projected sales are a bit lower than 2023, but still strong, keeping the QX60's position in the top ten for luxury 3-row SUVs.
New for 2025 are upgrades to the powertrain and interior enhancements, including climate controlled front seats and heated second row seats. The "Luxe" trim line aims to add more "lux" to its luxury designation, and overall, it succeeds. When Infiniti offered me a week behind the wheel of the 2025 Infiniti QX60 Luxe AWD Black Edition, I was most curious to give it a spin. The weather was perfect for a week of test drives too, starting out warm and sunny and ending with a sub-zero freeze and challenging driving conditions. The QX60 handled it all with aplomb.
The vehicle dropped off was in Harbor Gray with a Graphite interior and the Black Edition trim upgrades:
The grey is unquestionably a 'safe' color for a vehicle, nothing that stands out, but still a bit more visually interesting than black. The narrowed front grill and prominent air scoops give it a sporty front profile that belies the overall size of the vehicle: It's hard to realize that it's a three-row with seating for seven. Maybe eight if you don't mind jamming little ones into the backmost seat (but get earplugs if you do, they're a long way back from the driver). I also appreciated the eyebrow-style headlights that gave it a bit of a tough, predatory appearance at night. I mean, it's a family SUV, so it can only be so menacing, but at least it's less dorky than other car headlight designs.
Swinging around into the driver's seat, the front dash is elegant and (relatively) free of clutter:
Look closely, though, and you can see two entirely different design languages at play: the center console is a more traditional panel with engraved labels, while the climate controls are an illuminated touchscreen panel with knobs. At some point, this will undoubtedly be more consistent, but in practice, it was fine and easy to work with while driving. Notice also that there are not a dozen knobs, buttons, and controls hidden by the driver's left knee, as so often happens with modern vehicle designs.
I really liked the center console design, with its mix of textures and well-labeled controls. The knob on the right with associated buttons is known as the InTouch Controller and it makes managing the infotainment system a breeze. The only thing missing when compared to my Mazda which has similar controls is that the Mazda includes a separate volume knob on its center console, whereas the Infiniti requires you to use a front dash knob or button controls on the steering wheel. The QX60 also has a number of drive modes, which was helpful as the weather worsened. In particular, "Snow" was helpful as the roads got slick.
I should note that this car was replaced by a RWD 2025 Ford Explorer while the roads were still slick and icy, which really highlighting how well the QX60 did by comparison! I'll talk about that more when I share my thoughts on the Explorer.
As you can see above, the climate controls were a bit of a mishmash of controls, icons, knobs, buttons and more. Indeed, it was the least elegant part of the entire dashboard design, though I have a sneaking suspicion that this sort of more "digital" control is going to overtake the more elegant center console design in future model years. At least everything's in one place, including the often-missing steering wheel heater control (which proved quite helpful as the thermometer dropped below 0ยบ for a few days).
Notice that the very top row of controls are for the infotainment music system, feeling a bit like it was added when they couldn't figure out where else to put it. The Infotainment screen is sleek and elegant, but wouldn't these controls make more sense on the bottom of that display rather than as part of the climate controls area?
Notice when we view the main gauge display that it's yet another visual design language:
The virtual gauges were interesting but this is pretty densely packed with information nonetheless. More importantly, this highlights one of the weaker aspects of the QX60: mediocre fuel efficiency. Yes it has a towing capacity of a few tons, but I wasn't towing anything and saw 23.0mpg. EPA estimates are 22/27 so I was in that envelope, but even 27mpg is lower than I'd like to see in a higher end SUV.
The drive experience itself was quite pleasant, however, with the new 2.0L variable compression turbo engine and 9-speed automatic combining to offer plenty of performance whether it was keeping up with surface traffic or accelerating onto a busy highway. Handling was also good and even with poor road conditions in my suburban neighborhood with sub-zero temps and a few inches of snow/ice, I never once felt like I wasn't in complete control of my driving. The Infiniti has a full array of smart safety features too, as is common nowadays, including emergency braking, lane departure warning (and prevention), blind spot intervention, rear automatic braking, and more.
Car manufacturers who produce these three-row SUVs are always wrestling with the size of the vehicle and legroom versus rear cargo storage space, and the QX60 was pretty typical with its mediocre second row space and cozy third row legroom suitable for wee folk, not teens or adults:
As usual, if you're tall and want rear adult passengers, you'll have to compromise on your own comfort to ensure they aren't resting their chins on their knees in the second row. Notice also in the above picture the old-school levers for dropping the seats to make more cargo room. For a car that prices out above $60K, it was surprising that these weren't automated.
The flip side of this is that there's decent cargo space with all three rows available, and as you drop down seats and rows, you can get quite a lot of big items in the back of the 2025 Infiniti QX60, as shown. It does not lay fully flat, as some manufacturers have produced, but this was close enough that loading big items was still easily accomplished.
And then it got cold. Really cold.
You can see by the snow filled wheel wells that it was not delightful, balmy weather, but gosh darn freezing! Even with this trekking across the frozen tundra environment, the QX60 AWD did a very good job holding the road and switching drive safety features as needed to keep me on the road, not slipped off into a ditch.
Overall, I quite liked the Infiniti QX60 Luxe AWD Black Edition in terms of both exterior style and drive experience. It feels very luxurious inside, is a quiet ride, and features a very nice sound system. The interior design could do with a facelift to increase the consistency of the various elements, but that's minor compared to everything else. Got a big crew or need the option to add a few kids on the ride home from school in bad weather? The QX60 might just be your next SUV.
2025 Infiniti QX60 Luxe AWD with 2.0L variable compression turbo engine and 9-speed automatic transmission. BASE PRICE: $58,800.00. Options Included: Black Edition trim set, Premium Paint. AS DRIVEN: $62,745.00.
Disclosure: Infiniti loaned me the QX60 for a week in return for this candid write-up. This article originally appeared on PlanetDave.com with the title The 2025 Infiniti QX60 Luxe AWD Really is Luxurious.
