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Nissan, Infiniti will each show a next-gen concept EV in Detroit

The chief designer for Nissan and Infiniti said Wednesday that both brands will debut concept electric vehicles at the 2019 North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January that will likely show off Nissan's next-generation electric drive systems and the evolution of the brands' EV design direction first hinted at with Infiniti's stunning Q Inspiration. Alfonso Albaisa, senior vice president of global design for Nissan, said the concepts will reflect a similar departure from standard vehicle proportions as the Q Inspiration. He would not say exactly what segment or segments the concepts would represent, but he dropped some hints at a couple possible powertrains for the concepts. Similar additional concepts will follow later in the year at the Tokyo Motor Show, he said. "The Q Inspiration kind of hinted at it and we avoided discussing too much about what's driving that car. Of course, we talked about VC-Turbo, which is also possible," he said in an interview with Autoblog. "But if you really look at the car, Q Insipiration shifted the cabin forward. It was the first one to break the [mold] of Infiniti. So how to still have this artistry and this sense of carrozzerie" (Italian for coachbuilding) "of Infiniti without kind of the stereotypical long hood and the cabin shifted back and the windshield has to go through the center of the front wheel, these golden rules." Infiniti debuted the Q Inspiration concept sedan in Detroit in January, with a swoopy, ghost-like design influenced by an archer shooting an arrow through the air, and innovative design features like an elongated cabin that expands interior space, a relative lack of chrome, and other features. It's powered by a compact variable compression turbocharged engine, which can change compression ratios on the fly to maximize efficiency and power, depending on the situation. But Albaisa said the two concepts for Detroit could feature Nissan's e-Power series hybrid technology, which has mostly featured in Japan, and which features small, isolated gasoline engines that exist only to charge the batteries, not drive the wheels. They will also feature a new generation of battery packs, which he calls a "magic carpet." "It's getting denser, it's getting thinner, the cars are able to get a little bit bigger, more space, we can really do much more," he said.

2019 Infiniti QX50 gets fancy-pants Autograph interior

The 2019 Infiniti QX50 has primarily garnered attention around car enthusiast circles for its variable compression engine. It's a marvel of engineering that uniquely changes its compression ratio to maximize power and fuel efficiency. It can also switch between Atkinson and regular combustion cycles, utilize multi-point or direct injection, it's turbocharged, and even features an electric motor that controls the variable compression ratio. Nifty stuff, but it seems likely that all that technobabble will make the average buyer of Infiniti's new compact SUV go crosseyed. It may not even be mentioned. "It has an engine? Great, let me see the inside." Well, dear car shopper who doesn't give a hoot about the greasy bits, have we got a bit of QX50 news for you. Infiniti has announced the QX50 Autograph package, a special $2,000 option with a seriously upgraded interior. Fancier materials and unique color schemes were selected, drawing inspiration from luxury beach resorts and being awfully similar to those found in the latest Pantone Fashion Color Trend Report. It's probably best to turn things over to the press release at this point. "Starting with warmer color tones, the rich chocolate brown replicates wood applications in the (beach) resort and the surrounding trees, followed by a creamy off-white representing the sand on a beach. The highlights of a cooler dark navy blue on the center console, reminiscent of ocean water, strike the proper balance between warm and cool, creating a comfortable, yet invigorating environment." Have you gone crosseyed? Well, now you know how it feels when describing the greasy bits to a non car person. Those cream, brown and blue bits are the Pantone colors, which, respectively, are known as "Coconut Milk," "Emperador" and "Sailor Blue." In the QX50, the Sailor Blue-esque blue is applied to the center console, dash and doors in Ultrasuede. The Emperadorish brown is on the steering wheel, leather-wrapped dash top and doors, outer portions of the seats and the lower door portions. Coconut Milk is indicative of the creamy dash color and the seat leather, which is diamond-quilted and contrast-stitched. There's also open-pore wood trim. Though I made light of this, the QX50 Autograph interior is actually quite striking. As Infiniti points out, consumers are starting to embrace color, which is worth celebrating. Give me Coconut Milk, Emperador and Sailor Blue over beige, grey and black any day.

2022 Infiniti QX60 spied running around post-Monograph Concept reveal

Infiniti recently revealed the QX60 Monograph Concept, a concept crossover meant to preview the next generation QX60. Today, the first spy shots of the QX60 in production form hit our desks. There’s a whole lot we canÂ’t see under the camouflage, but it looks fairly representative of what we expect a production version of the Monograph Concept would look like. The headlights, grille design, lower opening and side air intakes all look like they were pulled straight off the concept. It also has the same hood design with raised outer edges that lead right into the A-pillar. Its droopy side camouflage does a good job of disguising its curvaceous profile and pronounced rear fenders. We can see a hint of widening at the rear fenders, and we hope that the MonographÂ’s look is translated over to production there. The mirrors were moved further down onto the doors, and the flush door handles are done away with. This tester appears much less flamboyant with normal-size wheels replacing the giant and dramatic spinners on the Concept (gallery of the concept below). Infiniti QX60 Monograph View 36 Photos Infiniti is copying the shape of the rear over to production. We can clearly make out the raked rear window, overhanging spoiler and rounded shape of the back end. The taillights are a bit difficult to see, but their general design matches up to the Concept. As for the fancy chromed exhaust area on the concept, those spots appear flat and barren on this preproduction model. ItÂ’s still heavily covered in camo, though, so we donÂ’t yet know what the rear bumper design will look like in its final form. The production QX60 is set to be revealed next year where it will likely go on sale as a 2022 model year car. ItÂ’s unclear what powertrain(s) will be lurking under the hood, but at least we know the production version wonÂ’t stray terribly far from the concept now. Related Video: