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Infiniti QX70 drops V8 for 2015, holds line on pricing

QX70 was the only application for the 5.0L, making it a tough sell in the boardroom.
It was always easy to chuckle a bit at Infiniti's branding of its FX crossover as a "bionic cheetah" - until you drove the thing. It was something of a revelation when it came on the market in late 2002 - certainly visually, but also in terms of performance, particularly in V8 guise. The Porsche Cayenne burst on the scene at the same time, and between the two of them, they vividly illustrated that the idea of a performance utility vehicle wasn't the oxymoron it first appeared to be.

Infiniti Synaptiq concept 'spinal lock attachment' makes you one with your car

The theme of this year's LA Design Challenge is "Sensing the future" and asks, "How will cars interact with us in 2029?" Infiniti has kicked off entries in the LA Auto Show's yearly visionary party with its low, wide and versatile Synaptiq concept. Less a car and more of a set of interlocking pieces, the Synaptiq is termed a "universal fuselage pod," a teardrop-shaped capsule with a liquid-crystal canopy that can be fitted to different propulsion devices: a Formula One-like chassis, a desert buggy rig and a jet airframe.
Yet it answers the challenge not by being able to fly through deserts and air, but with its human-machine interface. The driver/pilot wears a Synaptic S.U.I.T. (Symbiotic User Interface Technology) fitted with biometric sensors and synthetic muscles, and through a "spinal lock attachment," he or she is made one with the car.
You gaze upon its gewgaws in the gallery above, and read more about it and other concepts from Acura, CALTY, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Peterbilt, Qoros, Subaru and Volkswagen that will vie for the King of the Future title at next week's LA Auto Show.

Infiniti boss De Nysschen confirms next-gen Q60 Coupe, ponders high-performance variants

We've known since mid-December that Infiniti's new global model naming convention would turn the current-generation G37 Coupe into the Q60 Coupe starting next year, but we haven't been clear on whether the model-range-formerly-known-as-G would get a successor, especially as its volume has traditionally been a lot lower than its sedan counterpart.
Thankfully, Infiniti president Johann De Nysschen (above) has stepped up to confirm that the newly revealed Q50 sedan will receive a two-door counterpart, though perhaps not as quickly as some would like. According to an interview with Australia's CarAdvice.com, De Nysschen says "the coupe we can probably expect two-and-a-half to three years down the road." That news also suggests that if there's an eventual convertible version, that it's a long way off, too. Why so long? Infiniti has "a lot of priorities" - priorities that undoubtedly include an already-confirmed front-wheel-drive small hatchback/crossover.
The report also indicates that Infiniti has some aspirations for stretching its new Q50/Q60 range in a higher-performance direction to take on competitors like BMW and Audi, the latter being De Nysschen's former employer. There's far from a firm timetable offered, of course, with De Nysschen saying "someday in the future we will be able to offer more high performance versions [of Q50] than we have today... the dynamic capabilities of this platform are very significant. It can handle far higher power than the engines we are using at launch."