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Infiniti was launched in 1989 by Nissan as its luxury division, arriving in the North American market at nearly the same time as Toyota's Lexus and Honda's Acura. Infiniti's debut campaign famously featured nature imagery with no cars and the tagline "The Luxury Car that Rethought the Luxury Car," positioned against conventional luxury brands like Mercedes-Benz and BMW rather than fellow Japanese newcomers.
The first Infiniti models , the Q45 flagship sedan and the M30 coupe , were widely praised for their engineering but failed to match Lexus's sales success. The brand struggled to establish a clear identity through the 1990s, though the Q45's 4.5-litre V8 and advanced multi-link suspension earned engineering respect. A turning point came with the 2003 G35 sedan, which used Nissan's FM (Front Midship) platform. The G35 won multiple "10 Best" awards from Car and Driver and established Infiniti as a performance-oriented luxury brand.
Infiniti expanded globally throughout the 2010s, entering markets across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, though European sales never reached expectations. The brand developed a reputation for powerful, distinctive engines including the 3.7-litre VQ-series V6 and the VR-series twin-turbo V6. In recent years, Infiniti has refocused on its core North American market, invested in electrification with the QX60 and QX80 SUVs, and previewed its electric future with the Vision Qe concept.
The Infiniti Q45 introduced several segment-first technologies in 1989, including a "Full-Active Suspension" system that used electronically controlled hydraulic actuators to virtually eliminate body roll, dive, and squat. [Uncertain: the claim of "segment-first" for active suspension; the system was advanced but Citroën's hydropneumatic suspension predated it by decades, though Infiniti's was more sophisticated in its active control approach.]
Infiniti pioneered the production of the world's first variable-compression-ratio engine, the VC-Turbo (KR20DDET), introduced in the 2019 QX50. This engine can seamlessly alter its compression ratio between 8:1 (for high performance) and 14:1 (for high efficiency), delivering the power of a turbocharged 2.0-litre with the fuel economy of a diesel. Nissan/Infiniti spent over twenty years developing this technology.
The "Infiniti Direct Response Hybrid" system used a unique one-motor-two-clutch arrangement that allowed the vehicle to be driven by the electric motor alone at low speeds, the engine alone at cruising speeds, or both in parallel for maximum acceleration , a simpler and more efficient layout than Toyota's power-split hybrids, though less commercially successful.
Nissan's luxury division debuted with the Q45 sedan and M30 coupe, positioned against established European luxury brands.
The G35 on Nissan's FM platform won critical acclaim and established Infiniti as a performance-oriented luxury brand.
Infiniti launched the world's first production variable-compression-ratio engine in the QX50, after over 20 years of development.
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