Amidst the launch of Infiniti’s new compact executive Q50 model, Johan de Nysschen, the company’s president, has confirmed they’re working on a high-performance sports model to lift the aspirational threshold of the brand.
His statement came in response to an interview, given at last week’s New York Auto Show, when he was asked about Infiniti’s plans to broaden their line-up.
Infiniti has produced two sports car concepts in recent years, the 2009 Essence and last year’s Lotus Evora based Emerg-E.
(Left to Right) Infiniti Emerg-E at last year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed and the 2009 Essence Concept.
While the Essence would make a fantastic addition to the range, we’re far more likely to see a derivation of the Emerg-E with its 408bhp hybrid drivetrain based on the Evora 414E.
Q&A
Q: You said Infiniti needs to broaden the line-up. Can you give us any clues as to what that will look like in the future for Infiniti?
de Nysschen: This is the most exciting part. We already announced that we are introducing a premium compact model positioned below today’s Q50. But that’s just the start. Everybody is hard at work right now on the planning for the successor to our acclaimed FX, what in the future will be the QX70, so we’ve seen a couple of design proposals evolving on that. As well as what eventually will become the QX50. This will be the car that really puts us in the sweet spot of the market for compact crossovers, really doing battle with cars of the likes of the BMW X3 and the Audi Q5.
But it doesn’t stop there. We are also taking the range upwards. We will quite likely see some very fascinating and highly aspirational models positioned above today’s M, or what will be in the future the Q70, and there will be some really attractive high performance cars that will add to the aspirational appeal of the Infiniti brand.
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The Emerg-E won the German Design Council’s prestigious Concepts category award for Automotive Brands in 2012 and was showcased at both the Pebble Beach Concours and Goodwood’s Festival of Speed.
It’s the first Infiniti to be developed in Europe, in partnership with the UK government’s Technology Strategy Board initiative.
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Would love the next Evora to be inspired by this design, particularly the A & C pillars. The A pillar here looks similar to the Mac-Laren 12C, it expresses strength, dynamism and speed. The C pillar finesse and speed (Pagani style).