THE climb is tough, the path rocky and obstacles need to be navigated around with expert precision or else attempts at finding traction and progress will be thwarted. We could be talking about off-roading in the facelifted QX80, but also the picture ahead for Infiniti in Australia.

Just six years into its local debut, Infiniti sales last year went backwards from an already miniscule base. Original dealers have shuttered, and by the car-maker’s own admission it needs a restart here.

To make the track ahead trickier, the premium vehicle market is down this year.

Obstacles, indeed.

On the upside, last year the QX80 grew its volume by over one-third despite being a seven-year-old model. The upper-large SUV segment is small, so in some ways Infiniti is shielded from the myriad competition it faces in other classes. And a decently different mid-life facelift is claimed to be able to boost sales by almost another one-third again this year – all things going well.

So, can a facelifted Infiniti QX80 now provide clear enough reasons to swerve around the usual roads leading to European and fellow Japanese rivals?