Will QX60 restore Infiniti's soul?

When the redesigned Infiniti QX60 arrives in U.S. stores in early fall, it won't just be another brawny three-row cross- over for upper-middle-class families to consider.

It could be the model that helps the brand rediscover its market direction and rebuild its customer base, Infiniti dealers say.

It is "a savior vehicle for the franchise," in the words of Infiniti dealer Warren Zinn.

"We've got very little to sell in the way of different models," Zinn, CEO of Miami-based Warren Henry Auto Group, told Automotive News last week.

The QX60 is Infiniti's bestselling model. The automaker delivered 22,880 QX60s last year — 29 percent of the brand's total sales.

The future of Infiniti rides on the QX60, said Infiniti National Dealer Advisory Board Chairman Ed Lennon Jr. And he said the brand is "under pressure" to nail the QX60 market launch.

"If we're going to get the kind of investment that we need from [Nissan Motor Co.], this car has to do very well for them and for the dealers," said Lennon, president of Circle Infiniti in West Long Branch, N.J.

Infiniti sales in the critical U.S. market have been in decline in part because of a dated product portfolio. Infiniti deliveries slumped 32 percent last year — the largest annual drop in the brand's history. The Japanese brand reported 79,502 sales, its lowest total in two decades.

The QX60 is a "lifeline" for dealers, said Dallas Fox, executive manager at Tim Dahle Infiniti in suburban Salt Lake City. "We don't have 10 products in our lineup," Fox said.

In the luxury segment, where players such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW chase every conceivable niche with sprawling product lineups, Infiniti is down to a handful of nameplates.

The average age of Infiniti's portfolio is about three years older than luxury-segment leaders BMW and Mercedes, calculated one industry observer, adding, "Infiniti is a starved brand."

Infiniti Americas chief Jeff Pope is aware of what's at stake. He said the brand is doing things differently with the QX60 launch.

To drive market awareness, Infiniti started the year with a media campaign that involved a drip-drip of product announcements around the new QX60.

"We've done something just about every month to keep this vehicle in the focus of the general public," Pope said.

To appeal to the vehicle's largely female demographic, Infiniti teamed up with Golden Globe-winning actress Kate Hudson on a slickly-produced launch video.

The challenge "is to make sure that we are communicating the right message at the right time to as many customers as possible," Pope said. "People are going to need to hear about this vehicle."

Infiniti also vows to be disciplined about better matching production with demand for the QX60.

"We always want to build one less car than the customer wants," Pope said. "But the plan on this vehicle would be to keep it at a lower days supply and to make sure that we have a stream of customers that are ready to buy."

That would be welcome news for Infiniti retailers who have often claimed the factory has overbuilt vehicles and then foisted them on dealers. Excess inventory on dealership lots leads to the kind of chronic discounting that dings residual values, retailers say.

"Infiniti needs the volume," Fox said. "The dealers need the volume. But if they dump too much too fast, that could be a big problem."

To get a jump-start on QX60 sales, Infiniti will release product pricing and packaging details to dealers by mid-July. Dealers will "have everything they need to have a conversation with the consumer and truly pre-sell a car," Pope said.

Retailers who saw the redesign in person last week are enthusiastic. Infiniti is trying to move the product upmarket with technology and design, Lennon said.

"If this car is a success, then you're going to see the brand start to come to the table with different models quicker than they have," he said.

Zinn described the redesign as a "great step change" from the outgoing QX60. And he approves of Infiniti's decision to ditch its continuously variable transmission in favor of a nine-speed gearbox.

"The CVT cost us a good bit of sales," Zinn said. "There were a lot of people who just didn't like it."