Nissan announced that its new 2019 Infiniti QX50 will use more ultra-high-strength steel and high-strength steel in its design. This means that shops and insurers need to be prepared and aware of the revised repair instructions and considerations that come with the vehicle.
Nissan is debuting a new 980-MPa high-formability steel on the vehicle, which brings the total to 27 percent of high-strength steel in the SUV.
These new parts are replace-only and, according to Infiniti, repairers must never cut and joint panels and reinforcements made of ultra-high-strength steel.
As it has in previous repair instructions, Infiniti doesn’t recommend heating 440-979 MPa reinforcements because it could weaken them. If heating is unavoidable, temperatures can’t exceed 1,022 Fahrenheit or 550 Celsius. If heated above this limit, parts must be replaced, according to Infiniti.
The company says it is aggressively developing technologies to expand the use of ultra-high tensile strength steel, aiming for it to make up 25 percent of the company’s vehicle parts by weight.
To read the full release, log onto Nissan’s tech info site.
