Enthusiasts have every right to feel burned by Infiniti, but it sounds like the automaker is preparing to make amends—and ready to jump into the horsepower wars. That expansion includes its flagship SUV, the QX80.

 

On Wednesday at the 2026 New York Auto Show, Nissan and Infiniti’s Senior Vice President of U.S. Marketing and Sales, Tiago Castro, told The Drive that “ideally” the automaker could deliver a 700-horsepower QX80. But, timing is everything.

 

Castro, an enthusiast whose first car at Infiniti was a G35 with a manual transmission upon starting at the company, said “we love that, by the way,” when it was noted that the Cadillac can’t build the Escalade V with its supercharged V8 engine producing 682 horsepower quickly enough. The man knows there’s a market for a ridiculously overpowered SUV in America.