Likes:
- Good looks
- Decent kit levels
- Handles nicely
- Curiosity value
Car Buyers Guide
Infiniti QX30 Premium Tech
August 2016
Gripes:
- Poor rear passenger space
- Only one engine and gearbox choice
- Pricey entry-level model
- Sluggish automatic gearbox
Infiniti's QX30 is the brand's first small crossover, aiming to capitalise on the current trend with its own premium, sporting option. The QX30 is based on the Mercedes-Benz GLA, so has proven credentials underneath with Infiniti's handsome design language inside and out. It's well-appointed and full of appealing electronic kit, including permanent four-wheel drive.
Despite a relatively long history in the US and Europe, Infiniti is very much a little-known brand here in the UK. A luxury and sporting arm of Nissan, Infiniti is still finding its feet with models such as the executive Q70, the Q50 saloon and a range of larger SUVs and crossovers.
However, Infiniti has more recently expanded its scope to include a pair of smaller vehicles - the Q30 hatch and the QX30 crossover. Using the Mercedes A-Class family as a base, these cars are built in a new dedicated facility in Sunderland and open up a lucrative, if rather competitive, sector to the brand.
The QX30 finds itself taking on its genetic sibling the Mercedes-Benz GLA, along with some pretty heady rivals from other premium brands, such as the Audi Q3, BMW's X1 and the Mini Countryman. It's a hard fight to enter, but the QX30 does have some genuinely good things to bring to the table.
However, Infiniti has gone for an outright premium experience and that means that, at entry level, its rivals undercut it. At nearer to the QX30's starting price, the value of the badge comes into play and at the moment this isn't a fight that the new guys can really win. It's a shame as it doesn't come up short against competitors.
Despite a relatively long history in the US and Europe, Infiniti is very much a little-known brand here in the UK. A luxury and sporting arm of Nissan, Infiniti is still finding its feet with models such as the executive Q70, the Q50 saloon and a range of larger SUVs and crossovers.
However, Infiniti has more recently expanded its scope to include a pair of smaller vehicles - the Q30 hatch and the QX30 crossover. Using the Mercedes A-Class family as a base, these cars are built in a new dedicated facility in Sunderland and open up a lucrative, if rather competitive, sector to the brand.
The QX30 finds itself taking on its genetic sibling the Mercedes-Benz GLA, along with some pretty heady rivals from other premium brands, such as the Audi Q3, BMW's X1 and the Mini Countryman. It's a hard fight to enter, but the QX30 does have some genuinely good things to bring to the table.
However, Infiniti has gone for an outright premium experience and that means that, at entry level, its rivals undercut it. At nearer to the QX30's starting price, the value of the badge comes into play and at the moment this isn't a fight that the new guys can really win. It's a shame as it doesn't come up short against competitors.