The windblown puddle of mercury known as the Infiniti Essence concept car shown at this year's Geneva show tells volumes about where Nissan's luxury division is headed both stylistically and technically. The twin-turbo 3.7-liter direct injection V-6 in the Essence will debut, sans turbos, in the redesigned M sedan due in early 2010, making about 340–350 hp. The complex direct-injection technology, in which fuel is injected directly into the cylinder rather than in the intake ports as is more common, most likely will also make its way into the G37 coupe and sedan as mid-cycle upgrades before the cars are completely redesigned in about three years. Besides making more power, gasoline direct-injection technology is also needed to meet tightening emissions and fuel-economy regulations around the world.

Where’s the Q?

As yet, Nissan remains unsure whether to replace Infiniti’s former flagship, the Q45. Infiniti's U.S. office wants a $70,000–$80,000 car to seal its position as an aspirational luxury performance brand against Lexus, BMW, and Audi. The idea is being explored; recently, dealers from around the world visiting Japan went wild when shown a Q concept which was basically a four-door extrapolation of the fabulous Essence show car.

But Larry Dominique, Infiniti's vice president of product planning for the U.S., says he wants to see how the economy shapes up before he decides for certain whether to invest in the project. And he has other priorities for the division's limited resources. Mainly, he says, the division needs to keep its bread-and-butter products fresh, namely the 10Best-winning G and the M. The company also has a replacement for the QX56 sport-utility in the works, which will debut after the redesigned Nissan Armada probably later in 2010. Both trucks will be built in Japan on a traditional ladder frame shared with a new Nissan Patrol, which remains for overseas markets only.

New M on the Way

The new M will be shown in sketch form in August and in the metal late in the year or early in 2010. Infiniti isn't quite sure where to pull the sheet off the car as nobody is sure how long Nissan will abstain from the international auto show circuit. If the cost-cutting ban holds through the end of the year, the M may get revealed at a special event or some other as-yet-undetermined venue. Expect a vastly upgraded interior (one of the shortcomings of the previous car) and the new direct-injected 3.7-liter V-6. The twin-turbo direct-injection 3.7 in the Essence could be adopted down the line as a performance upgrade, but at the moment it is just show-car fantasizing. Nissan is hard at work developing a new V-8 as the performance option in the near term.

A Single V-8 Family

Nissan wants to cut its V-8 families from two to one, so the new passenger car V-8 will be shared with the truck line. A V-8 using the new direct-injection technology is in the works but it won't be in the new M at launch, and will most likely never appear in the G. It may show up later in a Q45 replacement, if there is one, or as a mid-cycle upgrade to the M sedan. Currently Nissan offers three V-8s, including a 4.5-liter and 5.0-liter on the same block and the 5.6-liter in Nissan's truck lineup, which uses a different block. For the time being, the new M will likely get the 5.0-liter, currently used in the FX50 crossover. Dominique says that as the current flagship, the M can't have fewer horsepower than the FX.

In other Nissan news, truck production is being moved out of Canton, Mississippi. The plant will build cars and the new LCV (Light Commercial Vehicle), a small delivery van for commercial markets. As mentioned, Armada and QX production migrate to Japan to share the Patrol frame, while the Nissan Titan pickup moves to Mexico to share the platform of the Dodge Ram. That is, if Nissan and Chrysler can agree on terms. So far the deal still isn't signed and sealed. Nobody we spoke to at Nissan would comment on it further except to say that it has nothing to do with Chrysler's recently announced engagement to Italy's Fiat. Most likely, the Titan/Ram joint venture is ensnared in complications arising from the federal bailout of Chrysler.