Infiniti FX50: The station wagon reinvented

Launches are a huge deal in the auto business. If the right message does not get out when a new model goes on sale, there is seldom a second chance.

Nobody understands that better than Infiniti, Nissan’s luxury brand (NSANY). The brand launched in the shadow of Toyota’s Lexus (TM) in 1989 with an ill-conceived “rocks and trees” advertising campaign and never really recovered. Today, Lexus is the most popular luxury brand in the United States, while Infiniti sells less than half as many vehicles. So low is Infiniti’s public profile that it discontinued its Q45 flagship a year ago — and nobody noticed.

The 2009 FX50 won’t boost Infiniti’s sales figures much – only 134 units of its predecessor model, the FX45, have been sold through May — but it should raise its visibility. It is truly exotic in its conception and execution; in many ways it is the most  revolutionary mass-production vehicle of past five years. When former BMW CEO Helmut Panke went searching for new ideas for the German car company, he often cited the FX as a source of inspiration.

Think of the FX as the Toontown version of the modern station wagon: it has seating for four, with storage space behind the back seat, and a low roof with a barely functional roof rack on top. The cartoon inspiration comes from the proportions: An exaggeratedly long nose coupled to a passenger compartment that, instead of being squared off at the rear, is tucked into a dramatically-bobbed tail. The FX has perhaps the shortest rear overhang of any car on the road – its curved shape is reminiscent of some classic French cars from the 1930s. Completing the effect are some baroque styling elements – extreme cat’s eye headlamps, open-mouthed grill, Wurlitzer-inspired fender vents – and the absurdly oversized wheels.

Under the skin, the FX50 is a rolling test-bed of technology.  Two of the highlights are the around-view monitor, introduced a year ago, which gives a 360-degree view around the car from four cameras, and lane departure prevention.  While other Infinitis merely send out beeps to warn the driver when he strays out of a lane, the FX50 gently applies its brakes to nudge him back in.

During more than 200 miles of driving this extroverted vehicle, all that technology took some getting used to. When I pulled out to pass, for instance, the lane departure prevention system momentarily tried to hold me back. But I immediately warmed to the more traditional elements of the car — the seats, controls, and interior appointments — which were executed with uncommon skill.

There is a price to be paid for all of this, of course, and it’s steep: a base price of $56,700 plus a $815 destination charge; $69,145 with many bells and whistles. Should you decide to buy one, plan on spending a lot of time explaining to yourself and others why you did. Unlike a vehicle in a more conventional package that carries a recognizable brand, the Infiniti FX50 doesn’t make a predictable statement about itself or its owner.  And therein lies its charm.