2012 Infiniti Qx56 Theater Sunroof Nav Dvd Rear Cam 33k Texas Direct Auto on 2040-cars

Auto blog

MotorWeek revisits 1990 Infiniti Q45

With the one-two punch of the Lexus LS 400 and Infiniti Q45 in the early '90s, Japanese automakers started taking the fight directly to the established V8-powered German flagships on American roads. Here, we get MotorWeek's take on the latter and probably lesser known of those luxury sedans. While not so impressive today, the Q45's 4.5-liter V8 with 278 horsepower and 292 pound-feet of torque was pretty good by the contemporary standards. The big sedan was also offered with an optional all-wheel steering system that made the model quite a capable handler. The rear end even stepped out a just little during MotorWeek's slalom. Unfortunately, styling is very polarizing with these early sedans. Where the early LS looks planted with its big, chunky lines on the outside, the Infiniti is a bit more delicate. The design just doesn't scream about being a flagship sedan. The interior doesn't help sell the car as the top of luxury, either. While MotorWeek likes some of the amenities inside, there are complains about the reused switches from the Nissan Maxima and the extensive use of plastic, rather than wood. With Infiniti now having its sights on the global premium market and soon entering the compact segment, it's fascinating to see the very roots of the brand.

Infiniti cribs new US boss from Porsche

Just weeks before he was supposed to become CEO of Porsche Cars Australia, Infiniti has apparently offered Porsche COO and Executive Vice President Michael Bartsch a deal he couldn't refuse. Thus, Bartsch has join the company as Vice President of Infiniti Americas, the luxury marque's top North American post. Bartsch replaces Ben Poore, who has been with the automaker since 2008, having led both a 22-percent sales surge in 2012 and the brand's current sales slough, Automotive News reports.
Bartsch, Porsche's No. 2 US executive, has held the COO and Executive Vice President positions at Porsche since 2005 and was scheduled to become CEO of Porsche's Oz division on September 1. Infiniti has experienced a number of recent personnel changes in the past week: it named Vincent Gillet, formerly an executive for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, to lead its marketing efforts worldwide and Simon Cox, a former designer for automakers including Ford and Peugeot, to head a new design studio in London.
Poore reportedly will pursue other interests outside of the auto industry. Read more about the personnel change in the press release below.

Infiniti confirms new "premium compact" to be built in UK

Aside from certain naming-related news, Infiniti has actually had some decent product news to announce this week. The company's president, Johan de Nysschen, alluded to a new 550-horsepower performance sedan, and now the automaker has confirmed that a new "premium compact" will go into production in 2015. Based on the fact that this new model will be built alongside the Nissan Leaf at the automaker's Sunderland, UK assembly plant, we could only hope that it's a production version of the LE Concept (shown above).
Sunderland already produces Nissan products like the Qashqai, Juke and Note, and as a part of an investment of 250 million British pounds (around $406 million USD) for the new model, the plant would add an extra 280 jobs with the capacity to build 60,000 of the new Infinitis annually. Adding the premium compact at Sunderland means that Infiniti will have to change its plans for another new model, a bigger "C-segment hatchback," which could very well be a production version of the Etherea Concept.