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Infiniti Q30 Concept uncovered in Frankfurt

The curtain has officially been raised on the Infiniti Q30 Concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show, an oft-teased five-door hatchback that will move the neo-luxury brand downmarket to compete with the Audi A3 and Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class. Not only is Infiniti moving down market, it's targeting a younger audience, a field that it hasn't traditionally played in, that wants something different than a hum-drum luxury car. According to Infiniti's marketing director, Hugues Fabre, "Younger customers are coming into the premium segment with their own attitude toward premium-ness."
Infiniti's trademark styling elements are on full display here, from the radically kinked C-pillar and Q50-inspired headlights and grille, to the dramatic character lines on the profile. In the cabin, it looks like an extraterrestrial disco, with a lot of violet lighting, bronzed touchpoints and creamy leather. Ignore the concept car tinsel, though, and you'll see that Infiniti is dead serious when it says the Q30 foreshadows a production model.
We'll have plenty more of the Infiniti Q30, including live images from the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show floor, very soon. Until then, click over to our Frankfurt coverage page, scroll down for a full press release on the Q30, or click over to the high-res gallery.

Infiniti's Palmer announces QX30 small crossover production

The name of the game these days in the luxury marketplace is premium compacts. BMW has the 1 Series and 2 Series, Mercedes the A-Class, B-Class, CLA and GLA, Audi has the A1 and A3, even Lexus has the CT 200h. Among the last to get in on the action is Infiniti, but that's all about to change.
Nissan's luxury brand has been working towards a premium compact for some time, revealing the Q30 concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year and signing a new deal with Daimler to help develop and produce it. Now it seems that both it and a crossover version have been approved for production.
The news comes from Andy Palmer, Nissan's UK-based COO, chairman of Infiniti and one of the company's top executives under CEO Carlos Ghosn. Late last week Palmer tweeted the following:

Nissan bringing Infiniti brand to Japanese market

Ever hear that the best stuff is saved for export? Just ask Japanese luxury car buyers. It's been decades since Japan's largest automakers set out to take on Europe's finest with dedicated luxury brands of their own, but they have kept those brands largely out of their own domestic market and sold them almost exclusively overseas. But that's beginning to change.
In 2005 Toyota launched the Lexus brand - which it had been exporting since 1989 - in Japan. Honda reportedly planned on bringing its Acura brand to its home market just a few years later, but ended up delaying the move. Now Nissan is reportedly preparing to launch the Infiniti lineup in its own backyard.
This according to a report published in the Japanese business daily Nikkei and now making the rounds of the English-language press. The plan apparently involves offering at least part of the Infiniti model line in domestic Nissan dealers, holding off for the time being on launching a separate dealer network in Japan.