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Nissan axing Pathfinder Hybrid from 2016 lineup

The Nissan lineup gets a little smaller for the 2016 model year, as the Pathfinder Hybrid is dropped from the range. With its debut in late 2013, the electrically assisted SUV is one of the company's more recent introductions. However, it never really caught on with the public. "The Pathfinder Hybrid is not available in the US for the 2016 model year. Our emphasis is on the 3.5-liter V6 Pathfinder that achieves a best-in-class 20-city and 27-highway fuel economy," Nissan North America product communications director Dan Bedore confirmed to Autoblog. "Nissan has no announcement on future hybrid gasoline-electric powertrain applications at this time." Nissan actually ended production of the Pathfinder Hybrid in January, and "the hybrid was never a big part of Pathfinder sales," Bedore said to Automotive News. For the price premium, the electrically assisted version that combined a supercharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder and a 20-horsepower electric motor was only rated three or four miles per gallon better in EPA combined ratings than with the V6. However, while the company doesn't outline individual sales of the two, powertrain variants, the SUV is performing well so far this year. Through June 2015, sales are up 4.9 percent with 41,938 units sold. The future for the Infiniti QX60 Hybrid, which is the Pathfinder's more luxurious sibling, doesn't look very bright either. "For the United States, while the QX60 Hybrid continues to be available at some retailers across the country, our production is currently focused on the QX60 3.5 model," Infiniti spokesperson Kyle Bazemore told Autoblog. However, the vehicle is still in production at the Smyrna, TN, factory for export to places like China and Mexico. According to Bazemore if demand happens to increase in the US, "we have the manufacturing ability to make them available." Overall, QX60 sales are also up 14 percent this year in the US.

Infiniti previews modified Q50 Red Sport 400 for SEMA

Infiniti sports sedans are having a bit of a renaissance these days thanks the dirt cheap prices of high mileage G35s and G37s. As such, it's a good a time as any for Infiniti to introduce an aspirational vehicle in the same lineage: a Q50 Red Sport 400 built for the 2023 SEMA Show. The Q50 is probably not a car you've given much thought about in recent years, as it's been hanging around largely unchanged since its introduction in 2014. Infiniti hasn't had a presence at SEMA for most of that time either. This year, the luxury brand has cooked up a Q50 Red Sport 400 loaded with aftermarket accessories for the Vegas extravaganza. The car was built to showcase products from the Infiniti Performance line accessories, which includes suspension bits like upper control arms, rear traction rods, endlinks and more. There's also performance brake pads and a cat-back exhaust with the Infiniti logo etched into the tip. The Q50 show car also adds more coolant into the cooling system with a thicker radiator, a billet-aluminum expansion tank and an auxiliary intercooler tank. Naturally, there's a cold-air intake too. The build was done in part with Mobil 1, who has filled the 400-horsepower twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 with 0w-20 synthetic.  The most desirable parts of all might be the four lightweight Nismo LM-RS1 wheels. Measuring 19 inches in diameter and 9.5 inches in width, they are available in black, gray, or bronze. The purpose of all this, Infiniti says, is to let owners of the Q50 and Q60 (and older G37s and G35s) know that the company offers a line of parts for customization. It's not the first time Infiniti has tried something like this. Anyone remember the short-lived Infiniti Performance Line (IPL) from 2010? Infiniti's commitment to performance has always seemed half-hearted. Maybe this time it'll stick around for a bit longer.

Infiniti will reinvent its models, tech and design language as part of reboot

Infiniti raised more than a few eyebrows when it announced plans to follow a strategy it described as Nissan-Plus. Although this term suggests the brand's image will be dangerously watered down, its chief executive stressed its flag will remain firmly planted in the luxury car segment as he outlined what to expect in the coming years. The executive team led by Infiniti boss Peyman Kargar will reboot the company with a focus on profitability. "Premium brands should bring more money to the company, so that's the objective. We are not at the level we want to be," he told Automotive News. Several new products are on their way, including a crossover with a fastback-like roofline named QX55, and Kargar clarified many future models will ride on an architecture shared with parent company Nissan. It will be compatible with gasoline-powered, hybrid and electric drivetrains. He explained sharing platforms and components is necessary to save money because the company, like its peers and rivals, is spending a small fortune on developing electrified, autonomous, and connected technology. The shift will likely spell the end of the driver-friendly rear-wheel drive platform found under the Q50 and the Q60, but don't expect Infiniti to put its emblem on, say, a Sentra, and call it a day. It will remain a luxury brand. "The objective is to use these assets of the company, and then to reinject the money we are saving into the luxury experience and ingredients of Infiniti. We will put more money into Infiniti's future, but this money will come from the savings in globalized platforms," Kargar explained. The strategy he's outlining is one many of the firm's competitors have already adopted. Lexus, Acura, and Audi all build cars using parts sourced from their respective parent company. Lamborghini's Urus is related to the Volkswagen Touareg under the sheetmetal. Kargar noted every upcoming new model will be defined by an overhauled design language. We don't know if recent concept cars (like the QX Inspiration introduced in Detroit in 2019; pictured) will influence its upcoming vehicles. However, its future cars will offer nicer interiors, more user-friendly infotainment systems, and they'll receive tech features before Nissan's variants get them, which, oddly, hasn't always been the case in recent years. Infiniti's turn-around will start in 2020, when the aforementioned QX55 makes its debut after a brief delay.