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Nissan Exec Confirms Production of Infiniti QX30 Crossover

The market is heating up for premium small cars, and Infiniti is about to dive head first into this red-hot segment. In addition to a production version of the Q30 Concept, which was unveiled at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, Nissan executive Andy Palmer took to social media to confirm an all-new crossover model called the QX30.
2013 Infiniti Q30 Concept 1 photo
Photo: Infiniti
Palmer, Nissan executive vice president and chief planning officer as well as a chairman of Infiniti, posted on his Twitter account recently: “[Infiniti president] Johan de Nysschen just said that we’ll build our Q30 premium compact car and QX30 crossover in the UK (Sunderland) next year. I’m proud”

Other than this Tweet, there haven’t been any details released about the QX30, but we do expect to see a new concept vehicle teasing this luxury crossover to debut either later this year or early next year. Adding the QX30 will allow Infiniti to better compete against luxury compact crossovers like the Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class, the BMW X1 and the Lexus NX. As for the Q30, it will be positioned against entry-level luxury cars like the Mercedes B-Class, BMW 2 Series, Audi A3 and the Lexus CT200h.

Palmer’s Twitter announcement comes on the heels of the recent news that Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti would be building compact vehicles together at an all-new plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico. It isn’t clear how vehicle production at Sunderland and Aguascalientes will piece together, but the Mexico plant will have a much higher production capacity. Following a recent expansion, Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK in Sunderland is limited to 60,000 units, while Aguascalientes will be able to build 300,000 units annually.

In all likelihood, the UK facility will be responsible for building the European versions of the new Infiniti products, and the new plant in Mexico will focus on building the luxury compacts for other global markets including the U.S. If this is the case, we don’t expect to see the Q30 or QX30 in the U.S. until the Mexico plant goes online in 2017.
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