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Infiniti looking for a new boss after Christian Meunier leaves to lead Jeep

Nissan's premium division Infiniti is expected to announce a new acting global chief for the brand, the company said, after its current head, Christian Meunier, left to lead the Jeep unit of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Nissan's chief quality officer Christian Vandenhende will oversee Infiniti's global operations effective immediately, until a new brand chief is named, Infiniti said in the statement on Tuesday. Meunier, 51, was named Infinit's global chief in early January after its previous boss Roland Krueger left the Hong Kong-based brand. Meunier will take over as global president for SUV-focused Jeep effective immediately, Fiat Chrysler said in a separate statement. Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley had been running Jeep until he was elevated to the top job in July after the death of Sergio Marchionne. Meunier has international experience from his years with Ford, Land Rover, Nissan and Infiniti, which may prove valuable as Jeep attempts to expand overseas with a lineup of new products including the Gladiator pickup, a Wrangler plug-in hybrid, and the revived Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer nameplates. He's worked mostly in sales and marketing roles, including as senior vice president of sales, marketing and operations for Nissan North America; chairman of Nissan Canada; and his recent role heading up Infiniti. An Infiniti spokesman said Meunier's resignation was not related to Nissan's internal investigation into its former leader Carlos Ghosn.

Analyzing De Nyscchen's 25-year comeback plan for Infiniti

"It took us 25 years to bring Audi back in the US. This kind of thing takes a long time."
When Johan De Nysschen left his post at Audi of America last year to take the seemingly thankless job of leading Infiniti's global operations, it seemed like a familiar scenario. Like Michael Dukakis going from one of two men that could have won the White House to teaching political science at an obscure Florida college.

F1-inspired, 563-horsepower Infiniti Q60 Project Black S details finally revealed

Despite being first revealed at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, Infiniti has been quite coy concerning the details of its F1-inspired hybrid super coupe, the Q60 Black S. That ends at this year's Paris Motor Show, where the company has finally spilled specific information about the car. It's technologically fascinating, even if the on-paper performance doesn't sound all that shocking. Total power output of the concept, now called Q60 Project Black S, is 563 horsepower, with final torque figures yet to be announced. That power comes from a combination of the twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 found in the Q60 Red Sport 400, along with a trio of motor-generator units that have similar functionality as those found in the Renault Sport F1 car's KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System). One large one is connected to the rear axle and generates electricity under deceleration like most hybrids, and it can deliver 160 horsepower under acceleration. The other two motor-generators are coupled to the turbochargers. They generate power under acceleration as the turbines spin. They also act as an electrical anti-lag system, spinning up the turbines when hitting the throttle again after it has been closed in order to provide maximum boost immediately. Power for and from these motor-generators is stored in a 4.4-kWh lithium-ion battery pack. All the powertrain's power goes through a seven-speed automatic transmission to the rear wheels via a mechanical limited-slip differential. The company claims it can hit 62 mph in under 4 seconds. One of the advantages of this powertrain is that electricity is generated both on acceleration and deceleration, which helps maintain battery charge so the motor assistance can be used more of the time. How aggressive the car is with the electrical boost is determined by which mode the vehicle is in, Road, Quali (for qualifying), or Race. Road is the most conservative, whereas Quali is the most aggressive. The reason for this is that if you're qualifying, you have to go the fastest you can in a short amount of time. A digital simulation of the car running a lap in Quali mode at Circuit de Catalunya estimated it would use 15 percent of the battery charge. That means it could do a little over six laps in that mode and maintain full use of its electrical assists. Race mode conserves battery life more, since you'll want that power over the course of the race. A downside to the Project Black S hybrid system is that it's really heavy.