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Infiniti G37 to be renamed Q40; new flagship sedan confirmed

Infiniti has already made it known that its aging G37 sedan will live on alongside the all-new Q50 through the 2015 model year, but little else for this sporty four door has been announced past the 2013 model year. As of this writing, there is no 2014 model shown on the company's consumer website. A new report from Car and Driver, however, indicates that like other models carried over to Infiniti's new naming convention, the four-door G37 will live out the rest of its days with a "Q" name after all.
Unlike the G coupe and convertible - renamed Q60 - the sedan will reportedly wear the Q40 designation until its ultimate demise. We reached out to Infiniti for more information, but a spokesperson only had this for us: "we have not provided any product details for post-2013 models. That will come at a later time." Previously, we had been told that the sedan would continue to live out its days under the G37 nameplate.
As for products that are actually new to the lineup, C/D says that the Q30 and the next-gen QX50 are both expected to arrive before the company launches a new range-topping flagship sedan as soon as 2016. Aside from a handful of reports suggesting this sedan exists (C/D says it's confirmed for production), there isn't much we know about it - including whether it will be called Q80, Q90 or something else entirely. It would appear there's plenty to look forward to from Infiniti's upcoming product lineup, and we are eagerly awaiting a 550-horsepower Q70 sedan and/or a production version of the Q50 Eau Rouge.

Major automakers post mixed US June sales figures

General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV posted declines in US new vehicle sales for June on Monday, while major Japanese automakers reported stronger figures. Once again, demand for pickup trucks and crossovers offset a decline in sedan sales. Automakers' shares rose as overall industry sales still came in above Wall Street expectations. The US auto industry is bracing for a downturn after hitting a record 17.55 million new vehicles sold in 2016. Analysts had predicted that overall, US vehicle sales would fall in June for the fourth consecutive month. As the market has shown signs of cooling, automakers have hiked discounts and loosened lending terms. Car shopping website Edmunds said on Monday the average length of a car loan reached an all-time high of 69.3 months in June. "It's financially risky, leaving borrowers exposed to being upside down on their vehicles for a large chunk of their loans," said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds' executive director of industry analysis. GM said its sales fell about 5 percent versus June 2016, but that the industry would see stronger sales in the second half of 2017 versus the first half. "Under the current economic conditions, we anticipate US retail vehicle sales will remain strong for the foreseeable future." GM shares were up 2.4 percent in morning trading, while Ford rose 3.3 percent and FCA shares jumped 6 percent. "US total sales are moderating due to an industry-wide pullback in daily rental sales, but key US economic fundamentals clearly remain positive," said GM chief economist Mustafa Mohatarem. "Under the current economic conditions, we anticipate US retail vehicle sales will remain strong for the foreseeable future." Ford said its sales for June were hit by lower fleet sales to rental agencies, businesses, and government entities, which fell 13.9 percent, while sales to consumers were flat. But it sold a record 406,464 SUVs in the first half of the year, with Explorer sales increasing 23 percent in June. And sales of the F-150 had their strongest June since 2001. On a media call, Ford executives said an initial read of automakers' sales figures indicated a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of around 17 million new vehicles for the month, which would be better than 16.6 million units analysts had predicted. FCA said June sales decreased 7 percent versus the same month a year earlier.

Infiniti Q30 spied again

The Infiniti Q30 is back in the news thanks to the imminent debut of the QX30 Concept as its crossover counterpart at the upcoming 2015 Geneva Motor Show. The siblings are Infiniti's entrants into the popular premium compact ranks, and the standard hatchback was recently spotted in Europe with the least amount of concealment yet. Granted, this tester is still pretty heavy camouflaged, but this is a lot better aesthetically than the previous garbage-bag-covered look. While the pattern makes specifics hard to discern, the translation from the motor show stand to the road appears to be leaving the Q30 Concept's styling largely intact. Up front, the squinting headlights and swollen-rectangle shape of the grille remain similar, and while they are pretty hard to spot, the slashes down the side are faintly visible from some angles. The rear hews even closer to the original design with a comparable shape for the taillights and hatch, but exhausts are much smaller on this test car. Underneath the skin, the Q30 reportedly shares its platform with the Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class, and the engine is also expected to be the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder available in Mercedes' compact lineup. Official details should start spilling out soon, though, because Infiniti wants production of the hatchback to begin in 2015 at the Sunderland plant in the UK. A launch for the US market is expected in 2016. Featured Gallery Infiniti Q30 Spy Shots Image Credit: CarPix Spy Photos Infiniti Hatchback Luxury infiniti q30 infiniti q30 concept