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Infiniti installs Taisuke Nakamura as new design chief

The cubicles and corner offices at Infiniti HQ in Japan continue to change hands. Infiniti Global Design Chief Karim Habib, only in that position for about two years since leaving BMW in 2017, has left the Japanese luxury brand "to pursue other opportunities." In his place, Nissan has elevated Taisuke Nakamura, a 26-year company veteran who is currently Nissan's program design director responsible for global design strategy, and concept car and production vehicle design. Nakamura has a stout design resume in service to both Nissan and Infiniti, having worked on the Qs Inspiration sedan concept (above) shown at the Shanghai Motor Show in April, the QX Inspiration crossover concept shown at the Detroit Auto Show this year (below), and the Prototype 10 speedster concept revealed at Pebble Beach last year (bottom). All of those were electric concepts, making Nakamura the point man for Infiniti's push into electric vehicles and hybrids, and the carmaker's introduction of a new design language. Last year, Infiniti said it would have a new EV on the market in 2021, as well as "e-Power" series hybrids with small battery packs charged by gas-powered generators.   Those EVs should fully embody the brand's new design DNA, seen initially in the recent concepts. The automaker said around the Qs reveal that the new "aesthetics are underpinned by Infiniti's desire to challenge convention and design cars which are engaging, enriching, enabling and enchanting – what the company calls its ‘4ENÂ’ approach to design." At the QX reveal in January, Habib said that as engineers made a "shift towards smarter, more compact and less intrusive powertrains, we were able to create an alternative form with flowing gestures, more engaging in character and more enriching in experience. With its long cabin, balanced proportions and muscular stance, the concept heralds in a new era for Infiniti models.” Infiniti said Nakamura takes up his post next week, Sept. 1, and will report to the same boss he has now, Alfonso Albaisa, Nissan's global design head. Aside from Habib, other top non-Japanese Nissan executives such as Daniele Schillaci, Jose Munoz and Trevor Mann have left the Japanese automaker in the recent past, since the arrest of Carlos Ghosn. The former chairman, who faces charges of fraud and misconduct, is awaiting trial in Japan over charges including enriching himself at a cost of $5 million to Nissan, Japan's No. 2 automaker.

Infiniti parts ways with Red Bull Racing

The partnership between Infiniti and Red Bull Racing is done. The team announced that it will no longer run under branding from the luxury automaker and will drop the Infiniti name from its own. The shift is effective at the end of this year. Infiniti signed on as a sponsor of the Formula One team back in 2011 when Red Bull was at the height of its dominance and on the path to the second of four consecutive world championships. Two seasons later it stepped up to naming rights, with the team officially rebranded as Infiniti Red Bull Racing. But while the cars ran under motivation from the automaker's ally Renault, they stopped short of rebranding the engines as Infiniti's, leaving it in the unusual situation of being a title sponsor of (but not directly involved in) an F1 racing team. For next season, Red Bull will continue running the Renault power unit, albeit rebranded under the TAG Heuer name. In the process, the team will no longer have any branding from the French automaker or any of its associated brands. Meanwhile sister-team Toro Rosso is switching from Renault to Ferrari power for next season, while Lotus is prone to switch back to Renault engines and ownership. The French automaker also recently canceled its support of the feeder series known until now as Formula Renault 3.5. Infiniti has carried out only limited racing programs in its quarter-century history. Aside from the Red Bull partnership, it directly sponsored Sebastian Vettel up until his departure for Ferrari. The company also supplied IndyCar engines in the late 1990s, then sponsored the Indy Lights series for a few years. It recently helped a privateer team prepare a Q50 for the British Touring Car Championship, but otherwise hasn't had any top-tier factory racing programs to speak of. That makes it one of the few Renault Nissan Alliance brands (and Japanese automakers) not to actively participate in motorsports. Related Video:

Infiniti previews its own Vision Gran Turismo

Every automaker and its parent company is lining up to design its own set of wheels for the GT6 as part of the Vision Gran Turismo program, and this latest one comes from Infiniti. Although nothing in the way of details were disclosed at this point, the two teaser images released today show that, like most of its compatriots, Infiniti's design is for a low-slung, track-focused, two-door sports car. Its long bonnet suggests a front-engined layout, with an intriguingly ovoid windshield framed by raised buttress A-pillars and Infiniti's signature dog-leg rear pillars. The aerodynamic profiling looks suitably advanced for a mythical beast like this one, with deep extractor vents cut into the hood, intersecting side sills running from the front brake vents, an enormous rear diffuser and an even bigger rear wing. More than that we couldn't tell you at this point, but we're sure video racers will enjoy driving this super-Datsun as much as the Nissan Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo released back in June.