Infiniti
Aggressive cost cutting is the name of the game for Nissan Motor, president and CEO Ivan Espinosa having announced the Re:Nissan corporate plan in May. The premium division desperately needs more models to help it better compete with the likes of Lexus and BMW and it does look as though Infiniti will soon be gaining fresh product.
The USA remains the largest market and in the first half of CY2025 sales fell by nine per cent to 25,492 vehicles. The line-up is now just four models, each one an SUV, though there might be a return to at least one car in the future.
Electric-only plans shelved
Powertrains will be expanded, as the former shift towards making Infiniti mostly electric has been shelved. And so we will increasingly see e-Power (range extender EV), plug-in hybrid and/or ICE drive systems, along with fully electric power. There will also be a lot more in the way of shared technology with the Nissan brand.
For the 2026 model year, Infiniti division has a facelifted QX60 as well as a Sport package for the QX80 and a few other pieces of news. The first of these dates to calendar year 2021 so the QX60's refresh is a scheduled one. This should be the only styling update before a replacement arrives in 2028 or 2029.
A few weeks ago the future QX65 was teased in the form of a Monograph concept, this plus the QX80 Track Spec and QX80 Terrain Spec debuting alongside their smaller brother during Monterey Week in California. A production version of the QX65 will be launched in 2026 and should have a seven-year life cycle.
Cooperation Manufacturing Plant Aguascalientes to close
Infiniti will lose a key model early next year due to the COMPAS plant closing. QX50 build is due to be wound up in December, this being one of an eventual seven Nissan or JV factories due to be shuttered as part of Re:Nissan. The same applies to the QX55 which is also manufactured at the Mexican plant.
Things are a little murky when it comes to electric vehicles for Infiniti, several previously trailed plans having now been either canceled or delayed. One of these, an SUV codenamed PZ1J, has been pushed out to November 2028 but the plant which should build it remains Canton in Mississippi’s Madison County.
The big QX80, which shares a lot with the Nissan Armada/Patrol, is likely the luxury brand’s main profit driver and that should remain the case for many years to come. Expect Infiniti to add more special editions and sports variants, with a facelift likely for the 2028 or 2029 model year. There will probably be a second restyle for MY31 or ’32 and a fourth generation model in CY2034.
Nissan
In tiny cars, Nissan is far from being a major force though it does have the Roox and Dayz in Japan’s Kei class. Away from the home market, the brand will draw on Renault’s forthcoming Twingo to enter the European electric A segment, it was stated in March. Launch timing for the Renault-built baby EV has yet to be made official but 2026/2027 seems highly likely.
Another electric model for the European region is coming rather sooner, this being the next Micra. Revealed a few months back, sales are set to commence during the next quarter. And while it is obviously based on the Renault 5, the Nissan has a striking look all of its own and should sell well in the target markets, especially the UK. We can expect a life cycle of seven years, so the facelift would be due in early 2030.
Next years’s new Juke is also to become an EV though that’s not the whole story. In what seems a canny move, the current model is to remain in production for some years, giving the brand a handy hedge. That should work well in European countries, and the model will complement the new Leaf, itself to be made in the northeast of England as well as in Japan (Tochigi). This time around there won’t be any build in the USA. Battery choices, meanwhile, are either 52 kWh or 75 kWh packs.
Next Rogue/X-Trail within next 12 months
It will be a vital year for the company in 2026 as the Rogue and X-Trail twins are replaced. Already Nissan North America has confirmed that an e-Power drive system will be available in the USA for the first time but will American buyers take to the idea of a range extender? The future SUV is also important for China and to a lesser extent Europe. The life cycle should be six to seven years, so a facelift can be expected in 2029 or 2030.
When will we see the next Qashqai, a vital vehicle for Nissan Europe? Current intelligence says it has largely survived the cost cutting delays to other vehicle programmes. However, there will be a one-year delay, generation four therefore being set to arrive in 2029. And for the first time, there will be an EV though e-Power should remain available.
Long a big success in China, Nissan appeared to lose its footing in 2024 but in recent months its comeback had been making headlines. Along with the Sylphy, its usual best seller, lately a bigger, new model has captured buyers’ imaginations. The N7 (pictured), a beautiful electric sedan, keeps gaining ever more sales momentum.
Launched earlier this year and part of the Dongfeng JV, it will probably have a six-year life cycle, which means a facelift in 2028. The N7 is also the first of multiple vehicles which Nissan says will be based on a new electric-native modular architecture. It is believed that exports will commence in 2026.
New Sentra, Sylphy to follow
The smaller Sylphy sedan, which also does very well in North America and wears Sentra badges there, should have been replaced earlier in 2025. However, Nissan’s cost-cutting is believed to be the reason why the next generation has only just (26 September) been announced. It has a carryover 149 hp 2.0-litre engine in the USA but China's new Sylphy - soon to be announced - will have a different engine.
Mexico, a country where the brand has been number one for many years, has in recent times been gaining more models which are not available in America. One such is the Magnite. This small SUV is due to be replaced in 2027 and will again be manufactured in India.
Next Kicks an EV? And an electric GT-R?
Another SUV which does well in the Mexican market and the Americas in general is the Kicks. The latest model was launched in 2024 and so should be facelifted for the 2028 model year with a successor coming in CY2031. While some believe it could be an EV, at the moment it is too early to say one way or the other.
Finally, after 18 years, GT-R production ceased last month, but will there be an eventual replacement? It seems hard for the company to be able to make a business case at the moment despite what some say could be an electric replacement due towards the end of the decade. More likely, a model with an ASSB (All Solid State Battery) could arrive in the early 2030s as a technology showcase, though it would have to be a profitable car and not just a vanity project.
