Infiniti Could Ditch 'Alphabet Soup' Car Names

The brand's current Q and QX names might not be around forever

written by Steven Ewing
edited by Kathleen Clonts
4/15/2026
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What's happening: Infiniti — Nissan's luxury division — is reevaluating its current vehicle naming structure.
Why it matters: The company could ditch its Q- and QX-based names to give customers more clarity.
Edmunds says: We always prefer words instead of alphanumerics. But who knows what Infiniti will do.

— Yokohama, Japan

I've never been a fan of Infiniti's Q- and QX-based nomenclature. And as it turns out, many of the company's current executives feel the same. Speaking to members of the media in Japan this week, Nissan Americas chief product and planning officer Ponz Pandikuthira expressed frustration with the current naming convention and said changing it is "a work in progress."

Pandikuthira said that he and Nissan Americas chairman Christian Meunier are "not fans of this alphabet soup that just gets lost, and at some point you don't know who makes it."

What the Q?

Infiniti announced its current Q and QX names in late 2012 under the leadership of the company's former president, Johan de Nysschen. The changes went into effect for the 2014 model year; the G became the Q50, the M sedan the Q70, the FX the QX70, and the original QX SUV was renamed QX80. I hated it then and I still hate it now.

"Nissan's got lots of great nameplates and they clearly stand out," Pandikuthira said. "But on the Infiniti side, since we went alphanumeric, I think we lost. We lost FX, which to me is a tragedy; FX stood for something and it's very clear what it was."

In the company's defense, it had alphanumeric names before the Q/QX kerfuffle, but I see Pandikuthira's point.

"It's got a Q, it's got an X, it's got an S, it's got a J. ... We have some homework to do," he said.

Where do we go from here?

Later this year, Infiniti will launch the QX65, which is the two-row counterpart to the QX60. Next year, the Nissan Skyline-based Q50 returns, and the QX50 SUV follows in 2028. But what happens after that is anyone's guess.

"Let's just say the logical thing would be, OK, the 60, the 65, so then the next one should be the 70," Pandikuthira said. "But is it the two-row that becomes the 75 or the three-row that becomes the 75? It's a mess."

"We're really trying to reevaluate this," Pandikuthira said. "Let's focus on what makes sense to a customer."

by Steven Ewing

Steven Ewing is Edmunds' director of editorial content. An automotive journalist for more than half of his life, Ewing's been on staff at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog, Motor1.com, CNET, and he was the U.S. correspondent for Top Gear magazine. He's also contributed to publications like Automobile magazine, Car and Driver, The Drive, Jalopnik, Porsche Panorama, and more. Ewing has worked in the automotive industry since 2003. From testing prototype cars in the Arctic Circle to spilling a beer on a Formula 1 driver at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (oops), he's always got an interesting story to tell.

edited by Kathleen Clonts

Kathleen Clonts has worked in the automotive industry since 2014 and has copy-edited thousands of vehicle reviews and stories about cars and the auto industry in that time. Kathleen is the Edmunds editorial team's copy chief and previously worked as the senior copy editor for Automobile magazine.

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