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Infiniti QX Inspiration fails to drive onstage at Detroit Auto Show reveal

Update: The concept car has made it to the stage, and is spinning on its dais. "Ladies and gentleman, the Infiniti QX Inspiration. It's here, but you can't see it," were the words spoken on the Infiniti stage as the new electric concept crossover's promo video ended. That's right, on Infiniti's 30th anniversary of existence — the brand was launched here in Detroit — its big reveal was never actually revealed at the Infiniti press conference. "It's a concept car," Nissan said lamentingly. Yes, it most certainly is a finicky concept car. We walked out of the hall to see the QX Inspiration sitting, with its hood up, unmoving with Infiniti folk milling around it. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The press conference itself went on without the vehicle, though it was a bit anticlimactic without it. Pre-written lines were read, detailing small bits here and there that nobody managed to see. However, we were determined to see the car, and managed a short glimpse before being told to move along and wait for it to (eventually) make it onto the stage for photos. Check out all the details in our post that went up as Infiniti revealed all the details of the car, minus the actual vehicle. The design is quite striking, with a heavy Japanese tilt both inside and out. Once Infiniti gets it out there (we'll update when they do) we'll have shots of it from the swiveling dais it was meant to grace during the "official" reveal. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Related video: Detroit Auto Show Infiniti Concept Cars Electric Luxury 2019 detroit auto show

4 ways Infiniti’s Q Inspiration concept bridges present and future

Infiniti's new Q Inspiration concept is a striking fastback sedan that the company says reflects an inflection point for both the luxury brand and the broader auto industry itself. It represents a bridge between technologies. That's true in the literal sense; it employs Infiniti's new variable compression turbocharged engine technology, which provides performance features while maximizing efficiency, and bridges the gap to more advanced powertrains. It also features Nissan's ProPilot semi-autonomous driving technology. But it's also true for the concept car's design, which Infiniti says provides a simple, elegant solution to complex technological questions — offering a palate cleanser, if you will, for the complicated technologies hidden beneath the gleaming surfaces. Oddly enough, the futuristic-looking Q Inspiration owes a debt of gratitude to the Prototype 9, the concept based on a 1940s-style grand prix car that Infiniti released last year. Alfonso Albaisa, Infiniti's senior vice president for global design, said that project became "a kind of a blank canvas for us to play with" and allowed for new discovery and expression with minimal brush strokes. It also led designers back to Ma, the Japanese concept of mastery of empty space. We spoke with Albaisa about how the concept's design echoes the theme of bridging the present and future. 1. The cabin's forward proportion and roominess Using the space-efficient VC-Turbo engine gave the designers space to shift the cabin forward and move the A-pillars back, creating a more centered and elongated cabin, with maximum headroom. The interior is clean, with orange and black leather with orange accents and backlit birch wood accents. The center console is floating, providing seamless connectivity to technology and hiding mechanical elements. Albaisa says it's the first manifestation of Infiniti's new form language for an era of advanced powertrain and future technologies. 2. The grille In what Albaisa describes as "a little bit of an accident" and "kind of tongue-in-cheek," the Q Inspiration's grille is a kind of trompe l'oeuil phenomenon. From directly in front, you can see the small fins, but viewed from the side, they disappear. So much so that Albaisa said he was initially fooled. "From a functional point of view, we need to breathe," he said. "But I think in the future, where there'll be a lot different types of technology, probably the car can breathe less. So we don't need that dominating big open mouth.

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: