2008 Infiniti Fx35 W/ Rear Entertainment on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge racing toward Detroit with Red Bull in its veins

There are several ways an automaker can get into Formula One racing. It can start its own team from scratch (like Toyota did in 2002), it can buy an existing team (like BMW did with Sauber in 2005) or it can supply engines to other teams (as so many manufacturers have done over the years). Infiniti chose another direction and opted to sponsor the world-champion Red Bull Racing team.
Infiniti has undoubtedly poured millions into its partnership with Red Bull since it started in 2011, but aside from the Sebastian Vettel edition FX (which technically emerged from the company's sponsorship of the driver as separate from the team), the tie-in has yet to translate into a Red Bull-tuned (or at least -inspired) Infiniti for the road. But that's just what Nissan's premium brand has in store for us at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show in January.
Well, almost, because the concept just announced is still a step or two away from reaching your local Infiniti dealership, but here it is just the same. It's called the Q50 Eau Rouge, and it's based on the company's latest tech-laden sports sedan. It takes its name, of course, from the famous uphill section of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit where Sebastian Vettel won the Belgian Grand Prix earlier this year, but Infiniti isn't telling us much more than that.

Infiniti Q30 spied again

The Infiniti Q30 is back in the news thanks to the imminent debut of the QX30 Concept as its crossover counterpart at the upcoming 2015 Geneva Motor Show. The siblings are Infiniti's entrants into the popular premium compact ranks, and the standard hatchback was recently spotted in Europe with the least amount of concealment yet. Granted, this tester is still pretty heavy camouflaged, but this is a lot better aesthetically than the previous garbage-bag-covered look. While the pattern makes specifics hard to discern, the translation from the motor show stand to the road appears to be leaving the Q30 Concept's styling largely intact. Up front, the squinting headlights and swollen-rectangle shape of the grille remain similar, and while they are pretty hard to spot, the slashes down the side are faintly visible from some angles. The rear hews even closer to the original design with a comparable shape for the taillights and hatch, but exhausts are much smaller on this test car. Underneath the skin, the Q30 reportedly shares its platform with the Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class, and the engine is also expected to be the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder available in Mercedes' compact lineup. Official details should start spilling out soon, though, because Infiniti wants production of the hatchback to begin in 2015 at the Sunderland plant in the UK. A launch for the US market is expected in 2016. Featured Gallery Infiniti Q30 Spy Shots Image Credit: CarPix Spy Photos Infiniti Hatchback Luxury infiniti q30 infiniti q30 concept

Infiniti G37 to be renamed Q40; new flagship sedan confirmed

Infiniti has already made it known that its aging G37 sedan will live on alongside the all-new Q50 through the 2015 model year, but little else for this sporty four door has been announced past the 2013 model year. As of this writing, there is no 2014 model shown on the company's consumer website. A new report from Car and Driver, however, indicates that like other models carried over to Infiniti's new naming convention, the four-door G37 will live out the rest of its days with a "Q" name after all.
Unlike the G coupe and convertible - renamed Q60 - the sedan will reportedly wear the Q40 designation until its ultimate demise. We reached out to Infiniti for more information, but a spokesperson only had this for us: "we have not provided any product details for post-2013 models. That will come at a later time." Previously, we had been told that the sedan would continue to live out its days under the G37 nameplate.
As for products that are actually new to the lineup, C/D says that the Q30 and the next-gen QX50 are both expected to arrive before the company launches a new range-topping flagship sedan as soon as 2016. Aside from a handful of reports suggesting this sedan exists (C/D says it's confirmed for production), there isn't much we know about it - including whether it will be called Q80, Q90 or something else entirely. It would appear there's plenty to look forward to from Infiniti's upcoming product lineup, and we are eagerly awaiting a 550-horsepower Q70 sedan and/or a production version of the Q50 Eau Rouge.