Q70 Officially Axed

[kmiles]

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/112 ... xury-sedan

Below is the information from the article:

The long-running Infiniti Q70 luxury sedan won't return for the 2020 model year, the automaker confirmed to Motor Authority on Thursday.

The Q70 was one of the few full-size luxury sedans still available outside of the German-automaker orbit—Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7-Series, Audi A8—although sales in recent years flagged.

Infiniti pulled the plug from the hybrid version for the 2019 model (pun intended), and this year the Q70 is gone completely.

Sales of the Infiniti Q70 flagged recently, with the automaker reporting just 2,196 sales for the first nine months of 2019, down from 3,476 from the same time period a year ago. This year, the Q70 was offered in rear- and all-wheel-drive configurations with a 5.6-liter V-8 or 3.7-liter V-6 and short- or long-wheelbase body styles.

Like many other full-size luxury sedans, sales have slowed significantly as buyers have shifted toward bigger, taller, SUV luxury flagships. Comparatively, the full-size Infiniti QX80—which uses the same 5.6-liter V-8—has sold 14,203 units through the same 9-month period in 2019—up from 13,377 in the same time period last year.

The Infiniti Q70 traces its roots back to the late 1980s, to the Infiniti Q45, which was a V-8-powered, rear-drive sedan. It was replaced in the U.S. by the Infiniti M37 and M45, later the M56, before it was renamed the Q70.

The Q70 was offered in short- and long-wheelbase body styles, rear- or all-wheel drive, with V-6 or V-8 power during its lifetime.

Infiniti hasn't yet named a successor to the Q70 but has previewed electrified vehicles that could take its place—or cede to a crossover flagship.

Infiniti spokesman Kyle Bazemore said in a statement that the automaker would, "continue to focus on consumer demand with a line of sport utility vehicles, while also remaining committed to the passenger car market with the Q50 sports sedan and Q60 sports coupe."

[M37xfan]

I am not surprised at all. Infiniti allowed the q70 to become stale. There are still many of us who don't want to drive an SUV or drive a smaller sedan like the Q50. The Q70 was unique in the fact it wasn't like bmw, Mercedes, or Audi

I don't understand why Infiniti didn't give the Q70 a twin turbo like the Q50? Upgrade the nav screen with something bigger and refresh the interior with an update similar to the new QX50?? I believe they would have had a winner and I would have stayed.

[pedsemdoc]

I am not surprised at all. Infiniti allowed the q70 to become stale. There are still many of us who don't want to drive an SUV or drive a smaller sedan like the Q50.

Exactly what the problem was....something's wrong when your older non-luxo brand, Nissan, has better tech than your premium models.
Don't get me wrong, I loved my M37 engine and looks, I just LOVE my Audi RS7 that much more.

[M37xfan]

Yep, my wife's 2014 rogue had more tech than my m37x.

Heck I had a 2009 Maxima, that had LED turn signals in the mirrors, panoramic sunroof with the power shade,and it had climate and radio controls for back seat passengers, and it never occurred to infiniti to add such features to a car that at the time stickered for well over $50k??

With that being said, I jumped ship to a jaguar xfs with the supercharged engine, a blast to drive!!

[Malbec 56 Beast]

I bet Lexus and everyone else is please that they decided to pull out of the competition of the large car market.

The do some very stupid business decisions, they should scrap the Q70 and so am all new Q80 that is above and beyond what they have ever done. I hope that's what will actually be happening. Hell they already charge top of the line $$$ for their autos they should actually give the customers excellent value.

What ev
Andy

[M37xfan]

How will infiniti get folks excited about the Q80 when they just axed the Q70? You would think that they would have updated the Q70 to a point in which it would be a glimpse of what's to come...

[Malbec 56 Beast]

They aren't visionaries, the Nissan Madonna is nicer than out cars. Ya it's the same company but me saying to do a Q80 and hit it out of the park but they won't.

Tech and design is where they need to get up to date. My old boss bought a baseline jeep and it has way more tech than the current Q70. WTF is up with that.

I think they need new people at the top.

[Malbec 56 Beast]

Oh
The QX series is ugly in my opinion. Sorry if I offended anyone

Hyundai make good looking cars why can't Infiniti make a better looking sport utility

[armybrat]

....something's wrong when your older non-luxo brand, Nissan, has better tech than your premium models.
Don't get me wrong, I loved my M37 engine and looks, I just LOVE my Audi RS7 that much more.

Yep I agree...also note that like the M37, the RS7 hasn't really changed much since 2013. In all fairness, the RS7 was and is, leaps and bounds above the M37 (cost 100k+ back in 2013), can't really compare the two cars IMHO. It was badass back then and still is today.

[Larz]

I wrote an article about this and Infiniti's future plans back in November. It described the current financial woes and latest official plans for the future:

Remember the new robust plant in the UK making the QX30 dubbed to become a huge hit worldwide? After only 750 new Infinitis were registered in the UK in all of 2018, the plant was shut resulting in massive layoffs. In fact, the Q30 sedan (UK only) and QX30 SUVs built in that new factory (based on the Mercedes GLA) were also sacked from the global Infiniti lineup. The Infiniti dealerships in the UK will be shut shortly.
In fact, Infiniti will withdraw completely from the UK and Western Europe, ending a decade of uphill struggle against the mainstays of european luxo / sport sedans BMW and Audi.
2019 will not end well for Infiniti. The latest report published by Infiniti confirmed a suspected drop in sales, but was actually much worse than expected. Sales dropped a whopping 43%, compared to the same period the year before. Think it's just an anomaly? Think again. In all of 2019 leading up to this latest drop, Inifniti sold only 87,000 units in the US compared to 105,000 in the same period the year before. The Q70 dropped 60%, Q60 dropped 59%. Well, you say, the new buyers are buying SUVs. That is definitely the latest trend, but people are buying SUVs from everyone BUT Infiniti. The QX50 and QX80 are down 50% compared to last year. In fact, the lower quality, less reliable US made SUVs like Cadillac and Lincoln outsold Infiniti - even the $100k unreliable Land Rover had higher sales. And, that new VC-Turbo engine which was meant to be a revolution, has failed to deliver the significant fuel savings as promised. After years of teasing with concept cars and greatly enhanced electric powertrains, Infiniti have nothing much new to sell. Even the QX50, which promised to be the most luxurious / fuel efficient SUV, is only delivering a ho-hum 22 mpg overall.

Nissan is, believe it or not, even worse. Nissan Global just reported a 99% drop in operating profit. Investors expected 37 billion, but unfortunately, the figure was just over 1 (yes ONE) billion. They have doubled the expected layoffs to 12,500 jobs globally. Their market share dropped 30% over one year ago. And ... drama continues inside the company as well. After Carlos Ghosn, CEO, was arrested in Tokyo for fraud last year, he was replaced by Hirohito Saikawa - and Saikawa just stepped down after it was discovered he illegally inflated his salary by some 400,000 dollars with creative book keeping and bonuses. Nissan now has new replacements at CEO, COO, and VP to replace the latest group of swindlers. Nissan is closing ALL plants in the UK and Spain. Their nameplates are also in decline: Tundra down 20%, Maxima down 30% (even after the latest refresh), Murano down 45%. In a market that is supposed to be slanted towards SUVs, Nissan models are down 13% and their trucks are down 7%. To help remove outgoing model year units clogging up the dealer lots, Nissan has increased incentives to over $4,000 per vehicle in the third quarter. Nissan has announced profits are down 73% for the year compared to 2018.

What about the future?
Nissan, in May, announced that Infiniti will move house from Hong Kong and rejoin Nissan Global with their own division in Yokohama Japan. Nissan says that Infiniti's future is now primarily aimed at the US and China markets, with secondary sights on Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Manufacturing in the UK and Western Europe have ceased and the next big change will be in electrification with the first model to be introduced in 2021. There are still NO plans to introduce any new Infiniti models in the Japan market.
The Q50 has been scheduled for replacement and will likely be based on the latest Skyline. In China, Infiniti are building a long wheelbase sedan modeled after the Q50, called (you guessed it) the Q50-L but there are no plans to bring it the US market.
The Q60 is likely to be refreshed in 2021 with plans to offer a Mercedes turbo 4 cylinder as well as a bi-turbo 3.0 liter V6.
The Q70 ... has been cancelled. What will become of the flagship sedan that died a slow death due to lack of improvements and upgrades? The replacement (tentatively known as Q80) is not yet scheduled for production and exists only on paper. The new flagship sedan, when it is built, will be more like the Porsche Panamera than the Lexus LS and will likely have some form of petrol-electrification to provide a combination of high speed with low EPA numbers.
The QX60 SUV will likely have another facelift and is tentatively scheduled for at least a partially electrified replacement in 2022.
The QX80 new generation will debut in 2020 or 2021 and will still carry the 5.6 V8, but may also offer a VC-Turbo. There are plans to make a petrol=electric version that requires no plugging in, but has not yet been finalized for actual production.
A new QX40 SUV is in the works at the Renault-Nissan Alliance / Daimler plant in Mexico and scheduled for release as early as 2021. It will compete with the Mercedes GLA, the Audi Q3, and BMW x1 SUVs

[Malbec 56 Beast]

The Q80 was a total guess but I stick to my words of the go balls to the wall in the design and tech it could work. They should rent a Lexas MB BMW hell some Hyundai and go way above them they might have something. I would say use the GT-R motor and really do some good stuff.

My car in 2013 had a sticker of $90k so they are not new to that.

Do it and keep your customers
People that buy the M/Q 56 want power give it to them, us!