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Is Infiniti shelving plans for Q50 Eau Rouge super sedan?

If you've been looking forward to Infiniti putting the Q50 Eau Rouge concept into production, we've got what could be bad news for you, because word has it that Infiniti may be shelving its super-sedan project. This, according to Infiniti's former chief executive Johan de Nysschen (now head of Cadillac) in a private Facebook post cited by Jalopnik. According to the post, de Nysschen "heard a rumor that Noboru Tateishi is going to cop-out and shelve the Eau Rouge project now that I'm not there to pressure him." Tateishi is a senior engineer and corporate vice president at parent Nissan who, in de Nysschen's estimation, has "more enthusiasm for 'driver's aid's,' apparently, than 'driver's cars.'" Named for a famous corner at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, the Eau Rouge is a concept version of the Infiniti Q50 sedan. It bowed first at the Detroit Auto Show almost a year ago and then showed up in Geneva with the 560-horsepower, 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 beating heart of a Nissan GT-R. Rumors ever since have hinted heavily at the Eau Rouge making production, with Infiniti going so far as to allow the automotive media – including us – the chance to drive a prototype of the would-be model. But without Johan (or, for that matter, former Infiniti chairman Andy Palmer, now head of Aston Martin) there to see it through, the may just be grinding to a halt – or perhaps de Nysschen is just giving his former colleagues a good ribbing. We've reached out to Infiniti to learn more, and we'll update as soon as we hear back from them. Featured Gallery Infiniti Eau Rouge Prototype View 25 Photos News Source: JalopnikImage Credit: Copyright 2014 AOL Infiniti Concept Cars Performance Sedan infiniti q50 infiniti q50 eau rouge infiniti q50 eau rouge concept

Infiniti's QX Sport Inspiration is still attractive, in Paris, and now gray

Yes, crossovers tend to be boring. But this one is pretty! Then we remember it's going to turn into the front-drive-based QX50, so we automatically lose some interest. But the wheels will be driven by Infiniti's new VC-Turbo engine, which is kind of exciting! And for the 2016 Paris show, those wheels are bigger – 22-inchers in place of the 21s that the QX Sport Inspiration concept debuted with in Beijing earlier this year. (It's hard to tell a difference in the photos, but you can bet the imaginary ride of this concept will suffer, imaginarily.) The 22s are also painted bronze now along with the brake calipers, and the whole vehicle gets a coat of matte gray paint to replace the silver it was originally shown with. There's also some new brown leather in the previously very black and white interior. It's still pretty black and white, actually. Then there's the variable-compression-ratio VC-Turbo engine that will power the production QX50. We're getting a better look at this 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbo in cutaway form at the Paris show, and it continues to fascinate. It's a pretty neat thing, with a movable stroke position that allows it to vary the compression ratio between 8:1 for performance and 14:1 for efficiency (when the turbo isn't needed). That might not sound terribly cool, but it's a pretty big step forward in the march of efficient power. So yeah, crossovers can be boring, but at least this concept and the production car that will soon follow it have a few things going for them. Related Video: Featured Gallery Infiniti QX Sport Inspiration: Paris 2016 View 12 Photos Related Gallery Infiniti QX Sport Concept Related Gallery Infiniti QX Sport Inspiration concept for Paris View 10 Photos Image Credit: Live photos copyright 2016 Drew Phillips / Autoblog Paris Motor Show Infiniti Crossover Concept Cars Luxury 2016 paris motor show infiniti qx sport inspiration concept

Sebastien Vettel testing Infiniti's production Etherea?

It sounds like Sebastian Vettel has had his hands full recently, juggling his Formula One racing career while moonlighting as the newly appointed director of performance at Infiniti. On that latter note, Autocar is reporting that Vettel has been testing a production version of the Etherea Concept at France's Circuit Paul Ricard.
There is still no word as to when we could see this car go into production or what it will be called (possibly the Q30), but it will likely share a platform with the Mercedes-Benz A-Class as a part of the Daimler/Renault-Nissan collaboration. The article also said that this future entry-level Infiniti would be produced at Nissan's Sunderland, UK plant.