They were obviously just badge-engineered Nissan Maxima and Pathfinders, respectively.l think they just cheapened Infiniti is image.

http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/1996-to-1999-infiniti-i30.htm
http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/1997-to-2000-infiniti-qx4.htm

Compared to what other company that has done the same thing?

Honda Accord = Acura TSX (Europe)/Acura TL

Honda Civic = Acura RSX

Honda Pilot = Acura MDX

Toyota Camry = Lexus ES300/ES330/ES350

Toyota Supra = Lexus SC300/SC400

Toyota Highlander = Lexus RX300/RX330/RX350

Toyota LandCruiser = Lexus LX450/LX470/LX570

Volkswagen Passat = Audi A4/S4

Volkswagen Touareg = Porsche Cayenne or Audi Q7

Volkswagen Phaeton = Audi A8/S8

Ford Edge = Lincoln MKX

Ford F150 = Lincoln Mark LT

Ford Fusion = Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ

Buick Lucerne = Cadillac DeVille/DTS

Chevrolet Corvette = Cadillac XLR

Chevrolet Tahoe/GMC Yukon = Cadillac Escalade

Chrysler 300/Dodge Magnum/Dodge Charger = Mercedes E-Class

For every 1 that drinks Bourbon, u have 3 that drink Budweiser. Gotta accommodate both parties.

mrjones makes a great point.

And to a certain extent, l agree with u about the re-badge job on these cars. They could've done a much better job to distance/distinguish these cars from their Nissan counterparts. This is one thing Lexus/Toyota does extremely well & Honda/Acura, too. Even dating back to ES 250 days, they did a lot to differentiate it from the Camry. They even put frameless windows (signature ES design although not anymore) on those.

However, l would not go as far as to say these cars were mistakes & solely responsible for cheapening their image. Despite the re-badge job, the I30 is were cash cows for Infiniti before G35 is came along. Also, despite subtle differences between it & the Maxima, u will be surprised how most people do not know that it is the same car.

As for QX4, these were slow sellers & l would not blame solely on the subtle re-badge job. If Lexus can pull it off with their LX470, why can not Infiniti?

So then what really cheapened their image? There r many factors (poor re-badging job is part of it) & l think it is more to do with quality than anything else. Sure, the engines were alright (most notably the VQ engine) but the materials that went into the car, especially in the interior were cheap quality. The type of materials they used on these cars were unacceptable for a luxury car. Best example is its flagship, the Q45 (the only car that is not re-badged). You should take a look at the interior. They put the same radio unit used in cheaper cars like the I30/Maxima & others. When l see that, it is hard to justify paying $50k for it when l can easily get the Lexus. No wonder it was such a poor seller.

As for them using cheap materials, l can understand their situation to a certain extent since they were in trouble financially at the time these cars were built. And also because of the same reason, they probably could not go any further than to simply re-badge these cars.

They've certainly improved in that department the last few years starting with the M35/45 & now with the new G35.

One interesting fact. The Infiniti I30 (aka Cefiro) design is what is known as the Maxima in other countries whereas the Maxima design that u see here is only available here. So it is actually Maxima that was re-badged.

No, l don't.

l do not think they were mistakes l like the qx4 alot l think anything infiniti is great its a higher class nissan all the cars look like nissan qx56-nissan armada just bc they look some what the same do not make it a mistake bc there are differences

l certainly do not think so. l currently own an Infiniti I30 and everyone l know (and do not know) says its a nice car. In fact, when the I30 was introduced in 1996 sales skyrocketed, which helped Infiniti become more mainstream and continue the production of Is until 2004.