Just look at all 5,631 pounds of the new Infiniti QX56, with its Freightliner grille, oddly contoured roof, and canted C-pillar that makes the truck’s rear section resemble a soldered-on portion of trailer. You have to wonder just what Nissan’s designers were thinking before they set out to style the thing. Well – as it turns out they were thinking, “Let’s bring together as many American focus groups as possible so to learn just what upper-middle-class Americans want a luxury SUV to look like.” The result is the disproportionate application of steel, glass, and rubber to the purpose of organic-grocery-getting shown here.

With luxurious SUVs the fastest growing segment of the SUV market, Nissan had to come up with something to replace its Infiniti QX4, which it had built on a platform provided by its midsized Pathfinder. The solution – to bring out a luxury sport-ute based on the Pathfinder’s larger sibling, the Nis san Armada – was as obvious as Rob Petrie’s ottoman.

The QX56 that came out last spring can accommodate up to eight people (depending on whether its buyer opts for a second row of either bench or bucket seats), while supplying them with rear- and four-wheel drive, a powered lift gate, 18-inch wheels, antilock brakes, and xenon headlamps as standard equipment. Under the SUV’s sloping hood, the same 5.6-liter V8 that drives the Armada has 10 additional horses to bring horsepower up to 315 at 4,900 rpm. The truck manages its torque by means of a smooth five-speed automatic that’s with the low gearing to either go off-road or tow an 8,900-pound trailer. Fuel use comes in at between 13 and 18 miles a gallon.

The Infiniti QX56 has a base price of $47,000, placing it in roughly the same category as Cadillac SRXs, GMC Denali XLs, and Toyota Land Cruisers. For this, you also get standard traction and antiskid control and an automatic load leveling rear suspension. Among its options, the test car had the sunroof and fancy entertainment system package (including a flip-down rear screen for showing DVDs) to bring its cost up to just over $55,000.

Perhaps it was the “Silver Graphite” coloration, but the truck had the formal feel of office equipment – as if it were some massively mobile Minolta. This appealingly executive feel carried over into its charcoal leather interior, which was both comfortable and smart-looking, with heated, fore-and-aft captain’s chairs, tasteful walnut trim, and a navigation screen that would show episodes of back-up theater whenever we shifted into reverse. Fold-down second and third-row seats yielded a long stretch of cargo room. The QX56’s directional signals sounded clunky, its emergency brake’s idiot light often remained on, and a reverse-gear beeper howled hysterically as if under the delusion that we were about to back off a cliff, but otherwise everything about the SUV was shipshape.

This is true as well for the road-going QX56. Blazing acceleration is beyond the big ute, but once it gets going, it can process blacktop at a rapid clip. The truck’s designers have stated that, despite its bulk, they want the truck to “drive small” – and to the extent that the QX56 has moderately sharp handling, a minimal amount of body lean in curves, and a satisfying on-center feel to its steering, they are well on target.

While the QX56 performs much like a less expensive Armada, its luxuriousness takes it beyond Nissan’s tendency toward low-grade interiors. Think of it as a new SUV that, while replete with all the safety, luxury, and convenience features you’d expect in its class, fails to outclass its competition in any one area. We say, if you want to try going to Infiniti and beyond, first look at the Toyota.