2005 Infiniti Fx45 Base Sport Utility 4-door 4.5l on 2040-cars

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Andy Palmer leaves Renault-Nissan to serve as CEO of Aston Martin

Aston Martin has been without a helmsman since Ulrich Bez stepped down from the chief executive office at the end of last year, stepping back to serve as non-executive chairman in a semi-retired ambassadorial capacity. The British automaker, now on the cusp of a new era, has been running without a CEO since, but has now named Bez's replacement in Andy Palmer.
If you don't recognize the name, you should: Palmer has worked under the Renault-Nissan Alliance for decades now, rising through the ranks to become one of the top executives under Carlos Ghosn. Most recently he was serving as executive vice president of the entire group and chairman of the Infiniti brand, but like Carlos Tavares, who recently left Renault to run Peugeot, Palmer is now embarking on a new mission as CEO of Aston Martin.
Once the transition period is complete at the start of October, Palmer's role as Chief Planning Officer at Renault-Nissan will be assumed by Philippe Klein, who steps up from his current role as executive vice president of product planning for Renault. Read the statements from both companies below.

This is the 2017 Infiniti Q60 Coupe totally exposed

Right about now, Infiniti's holiday card to Autoblog is going to get "lost in the mail." That's because we're going to spoil the automaker's next big debut nearly two full months ahead of schedule. Oops. What you see above comes from a promotional shoot for the new Q60 coupe. The photos taken here will probably serve as the official images when the new coupe bows in January at the 2016 Detroit Auto Show. The look is more or less what we expect, serving as a literal translation of the Q60 coupe concept that debuted last year in Detroit. That means it's darn handsome. The front fascia is bold, with Infiniti's trademark grille dominating the nose. As we predicted in our most recent round of spy photos, the Formula One-inspired front bumper has been ditched in favor of a more conventional unit, likely owing to Infiniti parent Renault-Nissan's pending divorce from the Red Bull Racing team. This is not a bad thing. There was just too much Mercedes-Benz SLK in the concept's front bumper. The pert tail features a remarkably short deck and an aggressive roofline, although we aren't sure how the company's heavily kinked beltline works on a two-door model. The profile is also highlighted by a set of vents just aft of the front axle. Overall, we're finding the new Q60 coupe to be a worthwhile alternative to the BMW 4 Series, Audi A5, Lexus RC, and the upcoming Mercedes C-Class coupe in terms of aesthetics. As previously reported, the most powerful Q60, likely featured here, will be offered with a 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged, 400-horsepower V6. A 2.0-liter turbo pilfered from Mercedes will serve as the base engine. As for the cabin, we unfortunately don't have much to show you (we need to leave something for Infiniti to show in Detroit, right?). We can tell you that the overall cabin should be reminiscent of the Q50 sedan, and the Q60 isn't likely going to depart much from the controls and infotainment on its four-door sibling. Related Video:

2016 Infiniti QX50 is new and improved, kind of [w/video]

The Infiniti QX50 is, to be frank, ancient. It hit the market way back in 2007, and has labored on ever since. Through December of last year, the company only moved 2,727 QX50s. The year before, there were only 2,164 sales, and 3,495 in 2012. What do all three years have in common? The QX50 was Infiniti's slowest seller in each of them. Here's hoping, then, that this latest update will boost the 2+2 crossover's appeal. Being shown today at the 2015 New York International Auto Show, Infiniti has made a number of updates to its smallest crossover, with the most notable being a 3.2-inch stretch in its wheelbase and a 4.5-inch increase in its overall length. That makes for an enormous 4.3-inch increase in the legroom of the formerly cramped second row. Infiniti also made slight increases to the overall ride height, of 0.4 inches in for rear-drivers and 0.8 inches for all-wheel-drive variants. Outside of the dimensional changes, Infiniti also beefed up the former EX37's exterior, with new front and rear bumpers that boast SUV-like scuff plating, as well as LED accents in the new headlights and a new grille that is more in keeping with the brand's current design language. LED taillights sit out back as standard, while Infiniti will happily sell consumers an optional xenon headlight package. Infiniti may have updated the exterior, but the cabin looks largely unchanged, aside from the extra space in the second row. It looks like a complete carryover in terms of features, trim and general layout. Also unchanged is the QX50's 3.7-liter V6 engine. Output remains fixed at 325 ponies and 267 pound-feet of torque. Regardless of whether power goes to the rear or to all four wheels, a seven-speed automatic is in charge of managing the power. We'll have more on the freshened QX50, including live images, coming soon from the floor of the 2015 New York Auto Show.