Premium Coupe Grille Color: Grey Rear Spoiler: Wing Bumper Color: Body-color on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Porsche Taycan is here, Lamborghini Sian is near | Autoblog Podcast #594

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor Alex Kierstein and Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. They start the conversation with the cars they've been driving, including the Subaru Forester, Lincoln Navigator, Mercedes-AMG C 43 and Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid. Then they talk about the biggest news of the week: the reveal of the all-electric Porsche Taycan. After that, they sweep up other news, like the Lamborghini Sian, new Nissan Juke and the Aston Martin Vanquish 25 by Ian Callum. Next, Autoblog's Erik Meier, who both produces this very podcast and also hosts our Twitch livestream, joins the chat with his impressions of the latest racing game, "WRC 8." Finally, our editors try to provide some helpful guidance in the "Spend My Money" segment. Autoblog Podcast #594 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving 2019 Subaru Forester 2019 Lincoln Navigator 2019 Mercedes-AMG C 43 Coupe 2019 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid Porsche unveils 2020 Taycan Turbo and Turbo S 2020 Lamborghini Sian Next-generation Nissan Juke Aston Martin Vanquish 25 by Ian Callum Autoblog plays "WRC 8" Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:     Green Podcasts Toys/Games Aston Martin Lamborghini Lincoln Mercedes-Benz Nissan Porsche Subaru Used Car Buying Coupe Crossover SUV Electric Hybrid Performance

Infiniti to move forward with 'Nissan-plus' strategy for its future cars

Sales at Infiniti in 2019 were down in the dumps. While the market as a whole fell 1.2%, Infiniti brand sales were down 21%. Nissan wasn’t too far behind, with its sales sliding 9.9% year-to-year. None of those numbers look great, but Nissan COO Ashwani Gupta still sees a path forward for NissanÂ’s luxury brand, Infiniti. “We will bring back Infiniti as Nissan-plus, in terms of product and technology," Gupta told Automotive News. “Infiniti will be great again.” Historically-speaking, Infiniti has been “Nissan-plus” for a long time over the years. Many vehicles in its lineup have been re-skinned versions of Nissans with some luxury thrown into the mix, and thatÂ’s not necessarily a bad thing. There have been some standouts, namely the original Q45 with its pioneering active suspension and shockingly sporty dynamics. And then there are the G coupes and sedans, vehicles that are still desirable to enthusiasts today. View 31 Photos InfinitiÂ’s current enthusiast offerings revolve around the Q50 sedan and Q60 coupe, both of which are rear-wheel-drive (or all-wheel-drive) cars with sporting intentions. ThereÂ’s no equivalent Nissan sold in America, but the Q50 is the Nissan Skyline in Japan. ItÂ’s impossible to know what the fate of these rear-drive-based cars will be, but a few possibilities lie ahead. Infiniti could really lean in to the “Nissan-plus” nomenclature and repurpose the new Altima as an Infiniti sedan. More likely, however, is a move to electrification. The Nissan IMs Concept and Infiniti Q Inspiration Concept both suggest that the company is interested in creating electric sedans. A “Nissan-plus” electric sedan sure sounds a whole lot better than a front-drive-based rebadged Nissan. InfinitiÂ’s biggest problem at this second is the lack of new product on the market. Its QX50 crossover is the most recent big redesign weÂ’ve been witness to, but it needed replacements yesterday for the QX60, Q50 and Q60 to be competitive with others in those segments. Both Lexus and Acura are outpacing Infiniti by a wide margin. The path forward as “Nissan-plus” also suggests Infiniti aims to be a premium brand, rather than a full-fledged luxury brand competing toe-to-toe with Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. ThatÂ’s consistent with how the brandÂ’s cars have stacked up in recent years, even as it collaborated with Mercedes to put an Infiniti badge on the GLA crossover.

Mercedes to build CLA at Nissan plant in Mexico [w/poll]

Volkswagen may have paved the way for American customers to get used to the idea of German cars produced in Mexico, but it won't be the only one for long. BMW is said to be considering production of the 1 Series, 3 Series and Mini south of the border, Audi is working on its own factory in San Jose Chiapa, and now Mercedes-Benz is reported to be following suit as well. Only instead of building its own plant, Daimler is tipped to use a Nissan factory in Aguascalientes.
According to a report in Manager Magazin recently cited by Automotive News Europe, that's where Mercedes is considering building the GLA, CLA and another A-Class sedan. Just what the point would be of another sedan based on the A-Class in addition to the CLA, we're not sure, but if Benz can produce the larger CLS in addition to the E-Class and S-Class sedans, we suppose there'd be room for an A-Class sedan alongside the CLA as well.
We're still waiting on confirmation and comment from Mercedes on the prospect, but one way or another, the increase in Mexican production of German automobiles seems to be a foregone conclusion.