Infiniti QX65 Monograph Concept Joins the Coupe-Over Crew

The production QX65 will appear later this year, and it should look pretty much like this.

Infiniti on Friday revealed our first look at the brand's next model in the shape of the QX65 Monograph concept. As that odd-number badge suggests, this is a coupe-ified version of the QX60, with some noticeable design tweaks as part of its evolution into a swoopy, two-row SUV.

That newly plunging roofline is hard to ignore. It doesn't start its tumble towards the ground until near the end of the rear doors, so it shouldn't affect headroom too much, yet since the concept still looks to have the same length as the QX60, the slope is gradual and elegant, at least to our eyes. As expected, the roof is painted black to minimize visual heft, while the rest of the body is coated in a very pretty shade called Twilight. No sparkly vampires here, just a reddish-purple hue that picks up a gold shine when light hits it. It's an evolution of the Akane paint shown on the QX80 Monograph, and one we'd love to see on production Infinitis. We're guessing the multi-layer process ain't cheap, though...

Up front, thin headlights frame a wider evolution of the Infiniti grille, which features a new pattern that is inspired by bamboo forests during a storm. The brand's piano key lighting is present too, with "keys" of light along the top of the grille. Big 22-inch alloys fill the arches, which are gloss black. Most of the exterior trim is the shiny stuff in fact, except the thin spar of bronze that runs along the roofline.

The tail features a much more expressive taillight design than the quietly elegant setup on the QX60. There's a distinct three-dimensional nature to the design, with the full width extending beyond the bodywork. Infiniti has included multiple small vertical extensions which it says were inspired by jet tailfins.

Infiniti is quick to draw comparison to the iconic original FX, but well—we've seen how that worked out for the QX55. The press release doesn't make a single mention of what sits under the bluff hood. If the production model is sharing its powertrain with the QX60, that means a fine-but-unexceptional 2.0-liter turbo-four with 268 horsepower and 286 pound-feet of torque, sent through a nine-speed automatic. We'll know later this year.

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