• by Tanya Gazdik , March 20, 2024

Infiniti debuted the restyled QX80 flagship ahead of next week’s New York International Auto Show. 

The live-streamed event took place at Edge, a 100-story outdoor sky deck at Hudson Yards. 

"It was not easy to get a full size luxury SUV in an elevator and up a hundred stories," says Shelley Pratt, director of marketing Ccmmunications and media of Infiniti Americas. "Let's just say we had to do some creative engineering."

In partnership with iHeartMedia, the debut was accompanied by a concert performance featuring Grammy- and Academy Award-winning musician Jon Batiste.

Broadcaster Erin Andrews served as the host for the evening as the 2025 QX80 was unveiled.

"In typical Infiniti fashion, we have to push the envelope and turn the ordinary into extraordinary," says Craig Keeys, group vice president of Infiniti Americas.

QX80 makes its public debut at the 2024 New York International Auto Show and goes on sale in the U.S. later this summer.

The vehicle starts at $82,450. All models feature a standard 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged engine, rated for 450 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque -- an increase of 50 horsepower and 103 lb-ft versus the outgoing QX80. 

Alfonso Albaisa, Infiniti senior vice president for global design, pointed out some of the vehicle's unique design features, such as the imposting yet elegant grille. 

"The grille on this car is inspired by the forest, the bamboo forest of Kyoto,” Albaisa says. “When you walk through this forest, the bamboo is so tall that it's actually tapering and it kind of joins at the top.”

QX80 is the first vehicle in the full-size luxury SUV segment with Klipsch audio, including an available Klipsch Reference Premiere audio system with 24 speakers, 1,200 watts of power, titanium tweeters and even four Highline speakers mounted in the roof.  The system features Individual Audio, leveraging speakers in the front seat headrests that allow only the driver and front passenger to hear navigation prompts or phone calls. 

Another notable feature available is Biometric Cooling, which detects when a second-row passenger may be feeling warm and automatically directs cooling air toward them. It can get passengers to a comfortable temperature in 50% less time than standard climate control alone.