Infiniti has shown its new Q80 Inspiration for the first time – and what you see here will lead to a production car, the company has confirmed.
This is a huge GT four-door coupe, stretching to 5052mm long, making it more of a rival to the likes of the Mercedes CL and Porsche Panamera.
It’s what was irritatingly teased last month; now we know what Infiniti is going to showcase at the Paris motor show on 2 October 2014.
Infiniti Q80 Inspiration: what we know
Earlier this summer, Infiniti issued a picture of elegant detailing on the grille pattern – it reminds us of shifting sands on a beach viewed from overhead – but we saw nothing else of the new Infiniti concept car. It was one of the worst teasers of the summer, we grumbled.
But now we can see the car for the first time? Well, our tune has changed considerably and we can make some sense of Infiniti’s jumbled European strategy.
This first image of the Q80 Inspiration shows how Infiniti’s design language could/will be applied to a large four-door coupe. It’s like an Infiniti Essence that’s been inflated by a few psi to accomodate rear passengers and baggage.
The rear window is particularly stylised, a tapering arrow leading down to the boot. And the Infiniti kinked C-pillar is more exaggerated than ever.
Hybrid too
Infiniti says this four-seat fastback is powered by a hybrid petrol-electric powertrain. No details have been issued yet; full spec will be announced nearer the Paris motor show.
Judging by the 22-inch wheels on the concept, power will be ample, however.
And what of the four-seat cabin? Infiniti intriguingly calls it 1+1, 1+1 packaging, suggesting that it’s not quite a full four-seater.
But perhaps the best bit about this car is its name. It’s no accident it sounds like a production car to sit at the top of the tree. Nissan’s upmarket division even goes so far as to say: ‘The Q80 Inspiration four-door fastback is to be taken as clear intent to have an entry into the newly defined premium fastback segment.’
Sounds good to us. The company desperately needs new models in mainstream areas and hero cars – to swell its European sales appeal. It’s only sold 377 vehicles in the UK year to date in 2014.