Beijing show: Infiniti to build Q Inspiration

NISSAN’S luxury brand Infiniti used the Beijing motor show this week to announce that it will produce a model based on the Q Inspiration concept – a large, sporty four-door coupe-like sedan – in China within the next five years as one of the first cars to spring from an all-new electrified vehicle platform now in development.

The acclaimed Q Inspiration was unveiled at the Detroit show in January, heralded as a preview of Infiniti’s future design direction and a showcase of forthcoming technologies, including the advanced ‘VC-Turbo’ variable-compression turbo-petrol petrol engine that will make its production debut with the redesigned QX50 later this year.

This could indicate that the Japanese premium brand will also now look to electrify the VC-Turbo powertrain – already billed as being as efficient as a conventional petrol-electric hybrid – and take its performance, both in terms of higher output and lower consumption, beyond the capabilities of the 200kW/380Nm 2.0-litre turbo-petrol unit in the forthcoming QX50.

Infiniti is yet to confirm whether the Q Inspiration will become the new-generation Q70, but as GoAuto has reported, the next generations of the Q70, Q60 and Q50 will all be based on the new electrified platform that will replace rear-wheel drive with standard all-wheel drive.

None of these redesigned models will emerge before 2021 as the company works on the all-new architecture.

This is the year that Infiniti will release its first all-electric vehicle as part of a goal for more than 50 per cent of its global sales to come from electrified models by 2025.

The Chinese production location for the large sedan is still to be confirmed, but Infiniti chairman and global president Roland Krueger said this week that the Hong Kong-based company was committed to building five new vehicles in China over the next five years.

“Infiniti is developing a new platform for electrified vehicles inspired by the Q Inspiration concept car, which shows the new design language for the age of autonomy and electrification,” he said.

“We very much had China in mind when designing the Q Inspiration, which shows a very sporty, performance-oriented electric concept, with a much bigger interior space.”

Infiniti design chief Karim Habib said the Q concept – particularly the coupe-like styling and elongated silhouette – “takes the traditional sedan architecture to its next stage of evolution”.

“(With) a shift towards smarter, more compact and less intrusive powertrains, we were able to create an alternative form with flowing gestures, more engaging in character and more enriching in experience,” he said.

“With its long cabin, balanced proportions and muscular stance, the concept heralds in a new era for Infiniti models.”

Infiniti has four design studios – in Beijing, Yokohama, London and San Diego – and manufacturing facilities in Japan, China, the UK and the US, plus a new $US1 billion facility in Mexico that will build the QX50.