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Sebastien Vettel testing Infiniti's production Etherea?

It sounds like Sebastian Vettel has had his hands full recently, juggling his Formula One racing career while moonlighting as the newly appointed director of performance at Infiniti. On that latter note, Autocar is reporting that Vettel has been testing a production version of the Etherea Concept at France's Circuit Paul Ricard.
There is still no word as to when we could see this car go into production or what it will be called (possibly the Q30), but it will likely share a platform with the Mercedes-Benz A-Class as a part of the Daimler/Renault-Nissan collaboration. The article also said that this future entry-level Infiniti would be produced at Nissan's Sunderland, UK plant.

Infiniti cribs new US boss from Porsche

Just weeks before he was supposed to become CEO of Porsche Cars Australia, Infiniti has apparently offered Porsche COO and Executive Vice President Michael Bartsch a deal he couldn't refuse. Thus, Bartsch has join the company as Vice President of Infiniti Americas, the luxury marque's top North American post. Bartsch replaces Ben Poore, who has been with the automaker since 2008, having led both a 22-percent sales surge in 2012 and the brand's current sales slough, Automotive News reports.
Bartsch, Porsche's No. 2 US executive, has held the COO and Executive Vice President positions at Porsche since 2005 and was scheduled to become CEO of Porsche's Oz division on September 1. Infiniti has experienced a number of recent personnel changes in the past week: it named Vincent Gillet, formerly an executive for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, to lead its marketing efforts worldwide and Simon Cox, a former designer for automakers including Ford and Peugeot, to head a new design studio in London.
Poore reportedly will pursue other interests outside of the auto industry. Read more about the personnel change in the press release below.

Nissan tests fully autonomous ProPilot tech on Tokyo roads

We've been hearing a lot about Nissan's ProPilot technology lately. ProPilot Assist is coming to the U.S. in the Rogue, as well as the Leaf EV. For this generation, the system allows for Level 2 autonomous driving, which is essentially adaptive cruise control paired with a lane-keeping function. Later, Nissan will add ProPilot Park, which allows the car to park itself. The next generation of ProPilot, though, allows for Level 4 fully autonomous driving, even on urban streets, beginning in 2020. Nissan has announced that it has already tested it on public roads during a demonstration in Tokyo. The prototype test vehicle is an Infiniti Q50. It's fitted with 12 cameras, 12 sonar sensors, nine millimeter-wave radar sensors, six laser scanners and high-definition mapping, all run through artificial intelligence. With this combination of hardware and software, the Q50 prototype can navigate across town or on the highway, automating the entire driving duties from the moment the passenger selects a destination until their arrival. It can tackle busy intersections and respond to obstacles in the road, providing what Nissan claims is a "human-like driving feel that gives passengers peace of mind." View 29 Photos "Our next-generation ProPilot prototype showcases technology that will be available for real-world use from 2020," said Takao Asami, Nissan's senior VP of research and advanced engineering. "Today's demonstration is another example of our successful work toward creating an autonomous driving future for all." Autoblog has already had the chance to sample the current generation of ProPilot Assist, in both the Leaf and the Rogue. While there has been a little bit of disagreement in our office, most of us have found the technology to work fairly well, and are looking forward to trying the next generation of semi-autonomous and autonomous systems. As the tech advances, it will only get smoother and smarter. Related Video: News Source: Nissan Green Infiniti Nissan Technology Emerging Technologies Autonomous Vehicles Electric Videos Sedan nissan propilot propilot