The Three-Row 2025 Infiniti QX80 Makes a Sky-High Debut in New York

The 2025 Infiniti QX80, which will go on sale towards the end of summer, made a high-flying global debut in Manhattan last month.

The huge, three-row SUV was cut up into pieces then transported via elevator to the 100th floor observation deck of the Edge at Hudson Yards. The Infiniti, the first car to be so ensconced, was revealed 1,100 feet up amid flashing colour lights in partnership with iHeartMedia in a live stream as night descended on New York City. Later, five-time Grammy winner singer/pianist Jon Batiste entertained a group that included executives and dealers.

Luxury three-row SUVs have turned into an important segment, including electric entries such as the seven-passenger Kia EV9 and Cadillacs Escalade IQ and Vistiq (coming as a 2026 model). The QX80 isn’t electric; it’s powered by a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6-rated engine with 450 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. That’s up 50 horsepower and 103 pound-feet from the current QX80. The nine-speed automatic transmission is shifted with piano key buttons.

Prices start at US$82,450 for the Pure rear-wheel drive version, and soar to US$110,595 for the Autograph all-wheel drive (with four iterations in between). At the launch, Craig Keeys, group vice president of Infiniti Americas, described the QX80 as “our new flagship, pushing the envelope from ordinary to extraordinary.” Keeys didn’t mention the twin-turbo V6 power, and the other speakers skipped over it too—the QX80 is all about luxurious refinements and tech innovations.

For instance, heated and cooled seats for the first two rows are available, as is massaging in the second row. Upscale Autograph buyers get rear climate controls via touchscreen. Much mentioned at the launch was the segment-first availability of biometric cooling, which monitors second-row passengers body temperatures and automatically adjusts the climate controls and air flow to that section. So, if mom picks up an overheated soccer player, he or she will be cooled down while other passengers and the driver stay steady.

And then there’s the top of the line 1,200-watt, 44-speaker Klipsch premiere audio system with a 24-channel amplifier and, among other things, titanium tweeters and speakers in the roof. Other carmakers have big stereos, too, but this one has something called Individual Audio, which directs phone calls and navigation to the front headrest speakers without interrupting the cabin’s music. Or the driver can listen to sounds directed only at him or her, without waking up sleeping passengers.

The interior on the QX80 is decidedly upscale, with leather, wood, suede, and metal elements. There are two 14.3-inch displays. The driver’s screen has three separate views, and there is a nine-inch touchscreen below the infotainment display with climate functions and a haptic element to let users feel when their fingers are on the correct virtual button. A colour head-up display is available. When drivers approach their QX80, its flush door handles open up to welcome them.

At the top of the line is the Autograph grade, which gets a two-tone roof, dark chrome trim, and unique 22-inch Turbine wheels. Inside, it benefits from semi-aniline leather with hand stitching and open-pore ash wood trim with aluminium accents.

As it sat under the coloured lights on the vertigo-inducing observation deck, with a cold wind blowing, it was possible only to get a quick first impression of the QX80. It’s big, the type of SUV that only American automakers built until the Asian brands realised it’s a highly lucrative market. And recent experience suggests that buyers want their three-row SUVs with the top infotainment and luxury appointments. Hence the Autograph version might do quite well.

Batiste, with a drummer and alto sax player, played four songs, mixing up jazz, funk, New Orleans percussion interludes, and soul. He was kinetic, barely staying at the piano for half a song. One number combined John Coltrane and the Beatles before it turned to some jazz-rock. The children’s song “If You’re Happy and You Know It” became a bravura version of  “When the Saints go Marching In.” In a brief interview, Batiste was asked about seeing the QX80 on that windswept platform. “It proves it’s durable,” Batiste says.