Photo: Infiniti
The 2019 Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance is right around the corner, and even though they’re pulling out of western Europe due to abysmal sales, the higher-ups at Infiniti decided to celebrate the automaker’s 30th anniversary at the posh event. Indeed, ladies and gentlemen – it’s been three decades since the Q45 and M30 were released in Japan!
Infiniti these days is sponsoring Renault in Formula 1, a team which hasn’t been up to snuff despite the ginormous budget end works know-how. Adding insult to injury, the VC-Turbo engine in the QX50 feels sluggish because it’s paired exclusively to a continuously variable transmission developed by JATCO.
With so many misses and so few hits, what is there to celebrate? "Infiniti was born to redefine the rules within the luxury space, and we continue to deliver a level of luxury that is meant to be lived in and to be experienced to the fullest," declared Jeff Pope, group vice president for the Americas.
"The Infiniti Edition 30 models are the latest representation of this vision, bringing together inspired design and advanced driver assistance technology that we pioneered." Oh, how unsurprising of you! Special editions are the easiest way to bring something new to the lineup, but not actually new because redesigning or developing from the ground up costs a lot more.
Infiniti says that everything from the Q50 to the QX80 will be available in Edition 30 flavor, and this brings us to the Q30 and QX30. The Mercedes-Benz GLA-based crossover is the reason Infiniti is pulling out of Europe, and if you look at the sales figures for the U.S., it’s not doing all that great.
At $30,250 excluding destination charge compared to $33,950 for the Mercedes-Benz, value for money is the only thing going for it. AMG came up with a go-faster version of the compact crossover, but Infiniti couldn’t be bothered to do the same with the QX30. Only 8,101 examples were sold in the U.S. last year, joined by 3,062 in the Old Continent.
With so many misses and so few hits, what is there to celebrate? "Infiniti was born to redefine the rules within the luxury space, and we continue to deliver a level of luxury that is meant to be lived in and to be experienced to the fullest," declared Jeff Pope, group vice president for the Americas.
"The Infiniti Edition 30 models are the latest representation of this vision, bringing together inspired design and advanced driver assistance technology that we pioneered." Oh, how unsurprising of you! Special editions are the easiest way to bring something new to the lineup, but not actually new because redesigning or developing from the ground up costs a lot more.
Infiniti says that everything from the Q50 to the QX80 will be available in Edition 30 flavor, and this brings us to the Q30 and QX30. The Mercedes-Benz GLA-based crossover is the reason Infiniti is pulling out of Europe, and if you look at the sales figures for the U.S., it’s not doing all that great.
At $30,250 excluding destination charge compared to $33,950 for the Mercedes-Benz, value for money is the only thing going for it. AMG came up with a go-faster version of the compact crossover, but Infiniti couldn’t be bothered to do the same with the QX30. Only 8,101 examples were sold in the U.S. last year, joined by 3,062 in the Old Continent.
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