Infiniti gets adventurous in the crossover niche and introduces the QX30 at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
So, is this new model just a jacked-up Q30, with higher ground clearance and scratch-resistant bumpers? Well, it sure looks like it, although it targets a different type of “compact luxury” consumer – just like the GLA.
Built on Merc’s A-Class platform, the small, premium, Q30 can be commissioned with all-wheel-drive, but that won’t make it a go-anywhere type of vehicle. Now, don’t you think the QX30 will be a major leap in off-road performance, since it only sits two inches higher than the normal variant, but at least it seems more capable of tackling the adventurous, rural route.
Moreover, unlike the Q30 model – which doesn’t bear the AWD option in the U.S. market – this one comes with the intelligent all-wheel-drive without ticking it on the optional extras list.
Inspired by the sharp-sculpted (yet curvaceous), lines of the concept variant shown at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, the QX30 looks like a somewhat (subtly) watered-down variant of the study. But we didn’t expect anything else to begin with, since its sibling form which it evolved, the Q30, was already out in the open and increasing Infiniti’s global sales.
The Infiniti QX30 premium active crossover will go on sale in selected markets in the middle of 2016, and since Nissan’s premium division hasn’t mentioned anything about powertrains, we’re thinking the QX30 will sport the exact same engine found on the regular variant.
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