Infiniti Putting EV on Hold, Preparing Porsche Panamera Competitor
06-04-13, 12:16 AM
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Infiniti Putting EV on Hold, Preparing Porsche Panamera Competitor
Infiniti Putting EV on Hold, Preparing Porsche Panamera Competitor
Ever since new Infiniti boss Johan de Nysschen took charge of the Japanese brand, he’s changed things quite a bit. First, it was the new nomenclature, and now, de Nysschen has revealed he wants to shift resources away from a Leaf-based EV to focus on higher-volume cars in an effort to reach 500,000 global units by 2017.
“I’m under absolutely no illusion — 500,000 cars by 2017 is an inordinately ambitious challenge,” de Nysschen told Automotive News. One strategy to meet that challenge is concentrating on new models that will deliver more volume instead of a lower-volume EV. Recently, we reported on the QX30, an upcoming Infiniti that will be based on Mercedes’ MFA platform and fall below the Q50 in price. The LE concept is shown at right.
De Nysschen revealed that by 2020, two flagship models will slot above the current M (Q70) sedan. While the cars will share the Q70′s platform, they’re not intended to be sports cars like the Emerg-E hybrid concept. Instead, these “high-performance luxury cars” will take after the Essence concept hybrid coupe.
“It will be more Porsche Panamera-like than BMW 7 series-like,” he said. “We could then quite conceivably use the same platform to create a more compact 2+2, two-door coupe that could perhaps just dial up the performance and design appeal.”
This means that Infiniti is putting the Nissan Leaf counterpart, previewed by the LE concept electic sedan, on hold for now. Unveiled at the 2012 New York show, the LE previewed roughly 80-85 percent of what the final car was supposed to look like when it was initially scheduled to hit dealer showrooms in 2014.
http://wot.motortrend.com/infiniti-p...#axzz2VEHAlh91
Ever since new Infiniti boss Johan de Nysschen took charge of the Japanese brand, he’s changed things quite a bit. First, it was the new nomenclature, and now, de Nysschen has revealed he wants to shift resources away from a Leaf-based EV to focus on higher-volume cars in an effort to reach 500,000 global units by 2017.
“I’m under absolutely no illusion — 500,000 cars by 2017 is an inordinately ambitious challenge,” de Nysschen told Automotive News. One strategy to meet that challenge is concentrating on new models that will deliver more volume instead of a lower-volume EV. Recently, we reported on the QX30, an upcoming Infiniti that will be based on Mercedes’ MFA platform and fall below the Q50 in price. The LE concept is shown at right.
De Nysschen revealed that by 2020, two flagship models will slot above the current M (Q70) sedan. While the cars will share the Q70′s platform, they’re not intended to be sports cars like the Emerg-E hybrid concept. Instead, these “high-performance luxury cars” will take after the Essence concept hybrid coupe.
“It will be more Porsche Panamera-like than BMW 7 series-like,” he said. “We could then quite conceivably use the same platform to create a more compact 2+2, two-door coupe that could perhaps just dial up the performance and design appeal.”
This means that Infiniti is putting the Nissan Leaf counterpart, previewed by the LE concept electic sedan, on hold for now. Unveiled at the 2012 New York show, the LE previewed roughly 80-85 percent of what the final car was supposed to look like when it was initially scheduled to hit dealer showrooms in 2014.
http://wot.motortrend.com/infiniti-p...#axzz2VEHAlh91
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