2012 Infiniti FX Facelift revealed – but not for the UK

Infiniti is launching a facelift for 2012 of the Infiniti FX with a new nose and wheels and some minor interior tweaks – in the US, at least.

You’d be forgiven for not even knowing what an Infiniti FX looks like; they’re far from ubiquitous in the UK. That said, we did spot an FX in the wild at the start of the year, although nothing since.

Yet if you want an Infiniti FX there is a decent choice; everything from a 3.0 litre diesel to a 5.0 litre V8 by way of a 3.7 litre V6. There’s no proper halo performance model the equivalent of a Cayenne Turbo, ML63 or X5M, but they look half decent, get plenty of toys and are apparently not the worst sporty SUV to drive.

And unlike that other posh Japanese marque, Lexus, Infiniti does seem to have a predilection for a sporty SUV rather than a green one. It’s just a shame there seems to be no real effort to get the Infiniti under buyers’ noses.

There was a wide open door for Infiniti to claim space as the sporty luxury Japanese marque, but we wonder if that window of opportunity is fast disappearing. Lexus seem, finally, prepared to offer buyers something more interesting to drive, if the information on the 2012 GS is anything to go by, which could signal the end of the open door for Infiniti.

Unlike Lexus with the GS, Infiniti are not offering anything remotely resembling a new car in the 2012 FX, instead they’re performing a modest rhinoplasty, a new set of alloys and some very minimal interior tweaks.

In the US Infiniti has revealed a launch FX Limited Edition with a nice blue paint job and some 21″ alloys to herald the arrival of the 2012 model.

But with no news from this side of the pond on a 2012 FX facelift, we thought we ought to ask Infiniti in Europe when we could expect to see the titivated 2012 FX.

They told us that they think the FX is just fine as it is and that they have “…no immediate intention to adopt the revisions they have announced.” They went on to say that “…customers who bought FX cited its design as an important motivation towards their purchase so we will be monitoring reaction.”

Which does strike us as a bit odd. They seem to be saying their customer(s) like the FX as it is, so they see no need to update it. Is that ever?

Or just until they clear stock?