2008 Infiniti Ex35 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2014 Infiniti Q50 sees 3,650 pre-sales ahead of Aug. 5 debut

Infiniti's answer to the hot new sports sedans from BMW, Cadillac and Lexus is creeping closer and closer to its August 5 arrival in dealerships. And while we yet can't pass judgment on the Infiniti Q50 - formerly known as G37 - 3,650 Americans are apparently ready to, as they've already raised their hands for the 2014 model.
In a pre-sale program announced at the 2013 New York International Auto Show, Infiniti gave buyers until June 30 to raise their hand for the new model. "The Infiniti Q50 pre-sale exceeded all expectations, becoming the most successful such program in Infiniti history," according to Infiniti's American Vice President Ben Poore.
A lot is expected of the Q50, available in both rear- and all-wheel-drive and with an optional hybrid powertrain. With 328 horsepower from its 3.7-liter V6 engine, Infiniti is making sure the new car packs a big punch relative to the competition. Meanwhile, the Q50 Hybrid offers fuel-sippers 360 ponies and up to 36 miles per gallon.

Cadillac CT6 ushers in new naming convention

Johan de Nysschen has been at his new post as president of Cadillac for not even three months , but he's already seen two of his most notable accomplishments from his two-year tenure as president of Infiniti matched by Cadillac. The brand has announced that it is relocating its headquarters, and is now officially changing its nomenclature.
The brand's new flagship model will abandon the familiar three-letter designation enjoyed by every other model in the range (aside from the Escalade), and adopt an alpha-numeric title. So, rather than the expected title of LTS, Cadillac's top-end car will be called the CT6.
Of course, this won't be limited to just one model. According to Cadillac's press release, "familiar lettering like 'CT' would be used for car models, with the number indicating the relative size and position of the cars in the hierarchy of Cadillac models." And yes, that means what you think it means - Cadillac will use the exact same naming formula, albeit with different letters, as Infiniti.

Infiniti G37 to live on in showrooms alongside 2014 Q50

Infiniti is preparing to roll out its hotly anticipated 2014 Q50, a car that not only ushers in a new alphanumeric naming strategy, it ostensibly replaces the G37 as the brand's bread-and-butter sport sedan. That will happen, but not in the short-term, as the G37 will continue to be manufactured and sold alongside the Q50, at least for the rest of this year.
Infiniti spokesman Kyle Bazemore has confirmed to Autoblog that a decision is pending on how long to extend the G37 sedan's production run. "We're taking Q50 up a little bit, and that allows us to keep the G Sedan in the lineup... It [Q50] certainly started as a replacement, but it ended up being much more than that." Confusingly, Infiniti has already announced that the Q50 is to start at $37,605 (including $905 destination charge), yet the 2013 G37 is more expensive, starting at $38,255 delivered according to Infiniti's consumer website. Thus, a price drop on the G37 is likely coming in short order.
So why hold on to the older model? With the Q50 launching exclusively with V6 and Hybrid models (a turbo four and diesel are said to be in the cards down the road), Infiniti evidently feels it is risking leaving lower-end sales on the table. "There's a lot of movement with the [BMW] 320i and such, and this allows us a two-tier strategy to compete," says Bazemore. Keeping the G37 on tap at a lower price for fleet sale duty may also serve to protect the Q50 as it establishes itself on the market.