Nissan's luxury arm Infiniti has been hinting at producing high-performance vehicles to rival those produced by the likes of BMW M and Mercedes-AMG for some time now, and it's reportedly very close to introducing its first of a new era. Because the brand needs to build cache and prove the business case, it will be starting its foray with a 600-horsepower SUV, reports Automotive News, with more powerful models to come later. The automaker is reportedly hard at work on a performance version of its full-size QX80 SUV, expected to bear the Red Sport badge last seen on the Q50 sedan and Q60 coupe, offering "an additional level of performance but not going all the way [yet]," according to Infiniti product marketing director Brian Maragno. But more is certainly coming.

Infiniti

BMW has M Performance, Mercedes has sub-63 AMG models, and Audi has S-badged products below its RS halos, and with Infiniti struggling in the luxury market, introducing less-than-hardcore performance variants is seen as a way to increase brand awareness and draw more buyers to the showroom before range-topping monsters with more power (and bigger price tags) can be offered, putting the Japanese marque on par with its German rivals. The new QX80 Red Sport will have changes that "are noticeable but not drastic," Maragno told AN, adding, "It's what's under the hood that matters."

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Insiders report that the new SUV is expected to arrive at dealers next spring with just larger red-painted brake calipers behind 24-inch wheels and red "S" badging to visually set it apart from the regular QX80. We predict some unique paint options could also be offered, but Infiniti must leave headroom for a future expansion of its performance ambitions. The Red Sport is likely to cost roughly 10 percent more and be offered on the QX80 Sport and Autograph trims, according to the insider. For the record, the Sport carries a base MSRP of $102,645, and the Autograph starts at $112,195.

Infiniti

The same insider told AN that a more focused high-performance QX80 is coming for 2028, possibly with as much as 680 hp. Unlike its Red Sport sibling, this will get more meaningful upgrades, including an angry body kit, wider fender flares, and an active exhaust to allow for more volume. The suspension will also be revised to handle the extra performance and improve handling.

Naturally, developing such a product requires plenty of testing and many discussions with suppliers and partners, and that's why a more muted Red Sport must be fast-tracked. "The idea is to keep pushing toward the North Star but address the market need in the interim," said Maragno. Indeed, Infiniti dealers are very interested in a performance-minded QX80, which means their customers have been asking for just such a thing. Should the Red Sport and its big brother perform well, Infiniti will be encouraged to push closer to its 2025 SEMA concept, the 1,000-hp QX80 R-Spec.

The brand has also shown off the QX80 Track Spec concept with over 650 hp and a rugged QX80 Trail Spec concept, and the latter may be just as inspired as the former, with BMW reportedly working on a G-Class rival and Audi rumored to be doing the same. Clearly, there's interest in luxurious but capable SUVs with more performance. Whether Infiniti can take advantage of that demand adequately remains to be seen.

Infiniti