The chip shortage comes as Infiniti juggles multiple key product launches.
The all-new QX55 sporty crossover began arriving in U.S. stores last month, while production of the redesigned QX60 is expected to begin in early July.
The QX60 launch is critical for Infiniti, which is struggling to reverse the biggest annual percentage sales decline in its history. U.S. sales tumbled 32 percent last year.
Infiniti “is doing everything they can to protect the rollout of the QX60, so they are holding back some chips,” Fox said.
The disruption in QX50 supplies comes as dealers are left without QX60 inventory going into the busy summer season.
Production of the outgoing QX60 ended in December, but the redesigned model won’t arrive until late August or early September.
Infiniti delivered 22,880 QX60s last year, or 29 percent of the brand’s total U.S. sales. Tim Dahle Infiniti sold out of QX60 inventory in April.
“We’ll be at a minimum four months without a new QX60 on the lot,” he said.
Fox said he’ll lean on pre-owned business. “Most Infiniti dealers have gotten quite good at selling used cars,” he said.
