Is Infinity serious about being Top Luxury Brand?

[Wangtang408]

After seeing Infiniti's Q50 Eau Rogue concept at the Detroit Auto Show last month, we argued that the luxury brand needs to put the car into production, for its own good.

Infiniti has said it wants to seriously compete with top-tier automakers — BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Lexus.

To make that transition, it needs more products, and one of those products needs to be on the level of the BMW M3, Lexus IS F, or Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG.

We said that it was not about volume of sales, but about proving that Infiniti can make an outstanding car. And we thought the Eau Rogue could be that car for Infiniti.

On March 4, we'll find out if Infiniti listened. That's the date of its press conference at the Geneva Motor Show, where it plans to reveal the engine that's going under the hood of the Eau Rogue.

Finding the right engine is crucial, and not a simple task. Infiniti President Johan de Nysschen has said a production version of the Eau Rogue "would have over 500 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque," likely coming from a turbocharged V6 or naturally aspirated V8."

Unfortunately, he can't grab the engine from the GT-R, the terrific car from Nissan (Infiniti's parent company). But Nissan does have a partnership with Daimler AG, which owns Mercedes-Benz, so perhaps the right choice could come from Germany.


If Infiniti shows us something innovative and impressive, it will be a sign the brand really wants to compete with the big dogs. We're optimistic: Infiniti hasn't confirmed whether the Eau Rogue will see production, it has hinted the that it will.

Until March 4, we'll content ourselves by listening to the sound produced by that mystery engine. Not bad:

I say drop a GTR engine in the Q70!

here is the link:
http://autos.yahoo.com/news/39-infiniti ... 00945.html

[Larz]

Some great points there. Unfortunately, Infiniti doesn't understand that those car makers have a heritage that Infiniti cannot match simply because Infiniti hasn't been in the biz long enough to build a heritage. Also, Infinit has never made a car in the same class as Merc's BM's or Audi's. They make cars in the same price range, but nowhere near the same style of driving excitement, handling, etc.

Simply stated, Germans make a true sport saloon with luxury appointments while Infniti make a luxury saloon with extra horespower as an after thought. Infiniti does not ride like, handle like, or drive like any of the German saloons - and it was not designed to do so. That explains why none of those car makers sees Infiniti as any sort of competition.
Personally, I rather like the experience on an Infiniti over any Merc, BM, or Audi. The new Jags are closer to Infiniti than any of the German saloons, but even Jags are a step above Infniniti.

In my opinion, Infiniti would do well to make use of it's ties with Mercedes and should allow them to design the suspension, gearbox, and engines. Infiniti is capable of meeting or beating the Germans with interior style, and fit &finish but they have yet to make a car that drives or handles in the same way as the others.

Infniti cannot put a GTR engine in anything but a GTR - they are hand-built to fit the rest of the design of the GTR and even have hand-matched gear boxes that will only fit the GTR design. They could, of course put the Nissan peeps to making a similar engine based on the Eau Rogue design and that would be a huge step to launching the Infiniti brand to the level of the German auto makers.

[HKblogger]

Hey

They just posted the engine sound for Q50 Eau Rogue online in a cool teaser video for the Geneva Auto Show.

Listen to it here, just head to the new ENGINE page after the intro animation:
http://unveil.infiniti.com/

You can also download the video, audio track and official press release from the site.
Find everything #F1Q50 related on the site.

Enjoy!

[TXT]

I just checked out that page from infiniti. If the new Q50 really is going to sound like that, it's gonna have some serious power. I heard some very loud turbo sounds.

[svard75]

Sounds a little hondaish with a turbo to me.

I was hoping they would build something like the 6.3 AMG v8.