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Infiniti and Steph Curry team up for hilarious 'ugliest car ever' prank

Stephen Curry, the famous Golden State Warriors basketball player, and Infiniti just pulled an epic and cringeworthy prank on Curry's friend COSeezy. In case you hadn’t noticed the commercials, Curry is a brand ambassador for Infiniti, so heÂ’s pretty tight with the Japanese luxury brand. The MVP invited his friend over to help him shoot a commercial for a mysterious new Infiniti concept car that Curry “helped design.” COSeezy was there to react to what would surely be an incredible piece of machinery. What Curry ended up showing him was a GO-4. You may have seen one of these crawling along city streets doing the odd job or two, and thereÂ’s absolutely nothing glorious about them. Curry dressed this particular GO-4 out with one hell of a body kit in an attempt to fool COSeezy into thinking it was a fancy new concept car. And he succeeded. Take a gander at the footage and have a laugh for yourself — things get rather awkward and embarrassing for COSeezy as the video goes on. But hey, thatÂ’s what pranks are for. In case you were wondering, the luxurious GO-4 features a 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine that puts out 66 horsepower. It has a four-speed automatic transmission and achieves a claimed 45 mpg. The vehicle looks ridiculous, though, and thatÂ’s pretty much all that matters here. Infiniti did pull an actual concept car out of a nearby garage after they let COSeezy know it was a prank. They had the QX Inspiration Concept on hand — itÂ’s the crossover Infiniti showed at the Detroit Auto Show this year.

Infiniti Q30 Concept uncovered in Frankfurt

The curtain has officially been raised on the Infiniti Q30 Concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show, an oft-teased five-door hatchback that will move the neo-luxury brand downmarket to compete with the Audi A3 and Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class. Not only is Infiniti moving down market, it's targeting a younger audience, a field that it hasn't traditionally played in, that wants something different than a hum-drum luxury car. According to Infiniti's marketing director, Hugues Fabre, "Younger customers are coming into the premium segment with their own attitude toward premium-ness."
Infiniti's trademark styling elements are on full display here, from the radically kinked C-pillar and Q50-inspired headlights and grille, to the dramatic character lines on the profile. In the cabin, it looks like an extraterrestrial disco, with a lot of violet lighting, bronzed touchpoints and creamy leather. Ignore the concept car tinsel, though, and you'll see that Infiniti is dead serious when it says the Q30 foreshadows a production model.
We'll have plenty more of the Infiniti Q30, including live images from the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show floor, very soon. Until then, click over to our Frankfurt coverage page, scroll down for a full press release on the Q30, or click over to the high-res gallery.

Andy Palmer leaves Renault-Nissan to serve as CEO of Aston Martin

Aston Martin has been without a helmsman since Ulrich Bez stepped down from the chief executive office at the end of last year, stepping back to serve as non-executive chairman in a semi-retired ambassadorial capacity. The British automaker, now on the cusp of a new era, has been running without a CEO since, but has now named Bez's replacement in Andy Palmer.
If you don't recognize the name, you should: Palmer has worked under the Renault-Nissan Alliance for decades now, rising through the ranks to become one of the top executives under Carlos Ghosn. Most recently he was serving as executive vice president of the entire group and chairman of the Infiniti brand, but like Carlos Tavares, who recently left Renault to run Peugeot, Palmer is now embarking on a new mission as CEO of Aston Martin.
Once the transition period is complete at the start of October, Palmer's role as Chief Planning Officer at Renault-Nissan will be assumed by Philippe Klein, who steps up from his current role as executive vice president of product planning for Renault. Read the statements from both companies below.