Infiniti QX56 SUV Production Transferred to Japan

Japanese carmaker Nissan is planning to move the production of its Infiniti QX56 SUV from the United States to a domestic production plant as soon as next year. The company has not confirmed the report but the Nikkei business daily is writing that the Nissan Shatai Co.'s Kyushu plant will handle production of the SUV, while the new plant in Mississippi will stop manufacturing this particular model entirely.

Since the company refused to comment on the report, nobody knows for sure which is the reason for such a move but Nissan most likely wants to save costs from the US production and benefit from the cheaper labor in the domestic market.

In the United States, the QX56 comes in either two- or four-wheel drive configurations, both of them equipped with the same 320 horsepower 5.6-liter DOHC V8 and making use of the same 5-speed automatic transmission. For the 2-wheel drive version, MSRP starts at $56,050, while for the all-wheel drive version the price stands at $59,150.

There is a wide array of standard features, including leather seats, a Hard Drive Navigation System with a seven-inch LCD screen, satellite radio, NAV Traffic (real time traffic information-available only by subscription), a 12-speaker Bose audio system and our favorite, a 9.3 GB Music Box hard drive.

Several other packages are also offered as optional, including a Technology Package with intelligent cruise control and front sonar system or a mobile entertainment system (DVD player, 8-inch color screen, two wireless headphones and a remote controller).