2004 - Infiniti Q45 on 2040-cars

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Jeremy Clarkson names 10 worst cars for 2015 and 2016

When Jeremy Clarkson, outspoken automotive journalist, ex- Top Gear host, and co-host on The Grand Tour, drives a car he doesn't like he doesn't pull his punches. As Jezza harshly puts it, cars shouldn't just be a form of transportation. These 10 cars made Clarkson's "the terrible 10" list on his column in The Sunday Times for lacking imagination and not giving the journalist "the Fizz," which his list of top 10 cars did. In typical Clarkson fashion, the list is controversial. Some of the cars on Clarkson's list have received praise from other outlets, which shouldn't really come as a surprise since he usually goes against the majority's opinion. Nonetheless, there's at least one car that will catch you off guard. To get a glimpse at Clarkson's reviews and the entire list of cars, head over to his column in The Sunday Times. Vauxhall Astra SRi Nav Infiniti Q30 Premium Tech Skoda Superb SE L Executive Zenos E10 S Renault Kadjar Signature Nav BMW X1 xDRIVE25d SEAT Leon X-Perience SE Technology Nissan GT-R Track Edition Volkswagen Scirocco 2.0 TDi Hyundai i800 Related Video: Featured Gallery Jeremy Clarkson's Terrible 10 For 2015 and 2016 View 11 Photos News Source: The Sunday TimesImage Credit: Clive Brunskill / Getty Images Celebrities BMW Hyundai Infiniti Nissan Toyota Performance bmw x1 infiniti q30

Infiniti QX55 crossover coupe teased again, hints at FX looks and a surprise out back

Infiniti plans to launch five new vehicles in the next three years. We got an abstract squiggle of the first one in August, when Infitini teased the coming QX55 crossover coupe during Monterey Car Week. Said to act as a medium that would communicate design language from the dearly departed FX crossover, the QX55 is meant to infuse a lot more design mojo to the conventional QX50 crossover that it's based on. The Japanese luxury brand just dropped the second teaser, this one revealing a swath of greenhouse and shoulder, and indeed, an arc of chrome trim that could have been traced from FX production drawings. The attention-getter here is what comes behind the greenhouse: A tailgate extension with the makings of a stubby trunk.  Positive reviews have come from a group of media to whom Infiniti showed a matte gray pre-production version of the QX55. The front diverges from the QX50 only in a few details, while the roofline isn't as coupe-ish as it might be because designers wanted to ensure adequate headroom for rear seat passengers. The steep rake has been saved for the area aft of the C-pillar, convincing one scribe to write that "the QX55 reminds us most of the Audi Q8, which also lacks swooping silhouette and looks more like a lifted hatchback." The rear fascia is said to look "cleaner and more modern than Infiniti’s current midsize crossovers," even though the jutting rear presents a vertically flat lower hatch that looks "a bit boxy." Having moved the license plate holder to the bumper, the wide expanse is home to a larger Infiniti badge and logo script with an "I" that serves an as-yet-undisclosed function. At the edges come taillights with a "sharp new piano key design." One site summed up with, "this is a gorgeous crossover coupe that will turn heads." The QX50 is expected to debut in the first three months of 2020, with an on-sale date sometime next summer.

Nissan recovery to focus on U.S., Japan, China markets

Nissan will pull back from Europe and elsewhere to focus on the United States, China and Japan under a plan that represents a new strategic direction for the embattled carmaker, people with direct knowledge of the plan told Reuters. The "operational performance plan" is due to be announced on May 28 and goes beyond fixing problems from ousted leader Carlos Ghosn's aggressive expansion drive, the people said. The company's struggles predate the current global economic shutdown. Nissan's 2019 sales slumped severely.  Nissan was already planning to implement what was described as a "do or die" plan in January, before the global coronavirus pandemic froze automotive production and sales worldwide.  Pursuit of market share, particularly in the United States, led to steep discounting and a cheapened brand. Under the new, three-year plan — reported here for the first time — Nissan aims to restore dealer ties and refresh lineups to regain pricing power and profitability, the people told Reuters. "This is not just a cost-cutting plan. We're rationalizing operations, reprioritizing and refocusing our business to plant seeds for the future," one of the people said. The plan also aims to cut competition and expand cooperation with alliance partners, the people said. Nissan will follow Mitsubishi in plug-in electric hybrid vehicle technology, with the smaller peer taking the lead in Asian markets outside China and Japan. France's Renault will likely focus on electrical vehicle technologies and Europe. Nissan and Mitsubishi declined to comment. Renault did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The plan, led mainly by Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta rather than Nissan's low-key chief executive, Makoto Uchida, is aimed at freeing resources to invest in products and technology for the United States, China and Japan, the people said. "The net effect is even though we reduce our R&D spend this year versus last year and make other savings, we pump those freed-up resources back into core markets and core products," said one of the people, who declined to be identified as they were not authorized to speak with media on the matter. The plan is likely to take up to two weeks to be finalized, with sales and earnings targets complicated by the anticipated long-term impact on auto sales of government measures worldwide taken to stop the coronavirus outbreak, the people said.