Infiniti

Infiniti is a brand of cars and sport utility vehicles based in Tokyo and is owned and used by Nissan, an automobile manufacturer in Japan and America and serves as Nissan's luxury brand for the American, Canadian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, South Korean and Taiwanese markets. Nissan also has plans to release Infiniti into many European markets (Russia & Ukraine in 2007, United Kingdom in 2008), China (10 dealerships by 2007), as well as in Japan sometime after 2008.

Most currently-built Infiniti vehicles are based on an FM (front-midship) platform. The center of the engine is placed behind the front wheels. This placement makes weight distribution more even, which is intended to improve braking, acceleration, and handling. It also reduces the polar moment of inertia. Only one Infiniti model is similar to a Nissan: The QX56 which is essentially a Nissan Armada. The reasoning to why there is only one shared model (as most other companies do more {Lexus & Toyota with 4) is because Infiniti uses the rear-drive FM platform, while Nissan uses front drive cars (excluding the 350Z which uses FM).

Infiniti's model name designation includes one letter for coupés and sedans (two letters for SUVs) and a number reflecting engine displacement. For example, the QX56 is an SUV featuring a 5.6 L engine. An exception to this was the QX4 SUV, which featured a 3.3 L engine (1997-2000) and later a 3.5 L engine (2001-2003). An 'x' following the engine displacement of Infiniti sedans denotes an all wheel drive model (e.g. Infiniti G35x).


-- Wikipedia