Design reveals at auto shows

Spring auto shows turned into design showcases this month, with Infiniti using New York for the QX65 and BMW using Beijing for a remade 7 Series. (infinitinews.com) (bmwgroup.com) Infiniti revealed the 2027 QX65 on March 26 at Grand Central Terminal in New York City, then put it on public display at the New York International Auto Show from April 3 to April 12. Infiniti said the two-row midsize luxury sport utility vehicle starts at $53,990 and reaches U.S. retailers in early summer 2026. (infinitinews.com) The QX65 is built around a fastback roofline that Infiniti said draws on the old FX, and MotorWeek reported that every trim uses a 268-horsepower turbo-four. MotorWeek also said the cabin drops the QX60’s third row but keeps a luxury-and-tech pitch. (infinitinews.com) (motorweek.org) BMW unveiled the new 7 Series on April 22, calling it the first luxury sedan to get technologies from its Neue Klasse program. BMW said production begins in July 2026, with the market launch following a few months after the world premiere. (bmwgroup.com) Neue Klasse is BMW’s next-generation vehicle toolkit, and the 7 Series is the first existing flagship model to absorb parts of it before the full family spreads across other segments. BMW said the update brings a new luxury-class design, a revised front end with crystal headlights, and a broader rollout of the company’s latest digital systems. (bmwgroup.com) (qz.com) This spring’s show calendar also split the spotlight between U.S. and China stages. New York packaged consumer-facing reveals and walk-up displays, while Beijing carried a heavier load of global debuts and electric-range messaging from brands chasing luxury buyers. (motorweek.org) (bmwgroup.com) Range claims became part of the design story. Reports on BMW’s i7 update said the electric version reaches more than 720 kilometers on the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure, or WLTP, a European test cycle that usually produces higher numbers than U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ratings. (msn.com) (qz.com) Infiniti used the QX65 to push brand identity as much as product detail. Its March 26 reveal called the model part of an “ongoing product renaissance,” and earlier company materials tied the vehicle to a multi-year plan to rebuild Infiniti’s place in the luxury market. (infinitinews.com 1) (infinitinews.com 2) BMW framed the 7 Series the same way, as a flagship carrying technology and styling cues for the rest of the lineup. That left this year’s auto-show season looking less like a parade of one-off unveilings and more like a contest over which brand can make design, software and range read as one package. (bmwgroup.com)