Infiniti Moving Towards Front Wheel Drive Platforms

After years of staking its reputation on the cachet of rear-wheel-drive luxury vehicles, Infiniti Division says it can continue just fine with front-wheel-drive platforms, too.

Infiniti's last front-wheel-drive vehicle was the 2000 model year I35, a reworked Nissan Maxima, which was discontinued in 2004. Now, a bevy of new front-wheel products are coming. On Aug. 20, during the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, Infiniti executives unveiled the Infiniti JX, a roomy three-row luxury crossover that will reach dealerships in April. It comes in front- and all-wheel-drive versions.

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adidas11 - 8/29/2011 10:48:17 PM

0 Boost

Please don't.

stone - 8/29/2011 11:12:48 PM

+1 Boost

and THAT is a sign that Infiniti is giving up on going after the big 3 in the luxury segment. I feel bad, they've been "almost there" for over a decade....

Joe_Limon - 8/30/2011 10:03:31 AM

+2 Boost

oh you'll see :) he/she is a Social worker/Hyundai fan/Law Enforcement hater. If you think jtz is annoying, wait till you read the stuff badgewhore has come to spew.

222max - 8/30/2011 10:29:34 AM

+4 Boost

The article seems to imply that Infiniti is going ALL FWD which is utter hogwash. It simply means that they are not going to be exclusively RWD but will offer some FWD products whose performance will not be affected by the FWD platform.

golfgod2k - 8/30/2011 12:20:18 PM

+2 Boost

Glad to see that they are keeping RWD platforms. As an M owner, RWD was key to my decision to purchase this car and will be for all cars going forward. Their products better not lose their performance benefit (handling in addition to acceleration) or they will just become Acura. A little concerned about his comment that consumer don't really care about the platform - to me that smacks of ignorance to current infiniti owners and what they appreciate about their vehicles. Hopefully this is just to diversify their product line. They should be careful or they'll lose what little brand DNA they have.