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Infiniti Eyes Compact and Probably Even Subcompact Crossovers

No longer being content with being the budget luxury brand, the Japanese company is now considering riskier segments, the most obvious of which being a compact crossover. The model would sit below the XQ50 and we believe it would try to compete directly with the Mercedes GLA-Class.
2014 Nissan Juke 1 photo
Photo: Nissan
Speaking to Automotive News at the Beijing Auto Show, Nissan's executive vice president talked about two potential direction the Infiniti brand could go down.

The same MFA platform that underpins the GLA-Class has long been rumored to spawn the "QX30", built at the same Sunderland plant as the Qashqai and Juke, maybe in China as well. Some have even suggested that the Etherea concept actually previews a crossover, since it had jumped up suspension that's not typical to concept cars in general.

"Is there room for a QX30? Most definitely. Could you come below that? Well, yes. ... There's room," Palmer told Automotive News.

The car below that would of course be the rumored Infiniti version of the Juke, which Palmer has described as "speculation." But that's only because media outlets believed the Juke would simply get Infiniti badges for the Chinese market.

It seems that while Palmer is brushing off the rumors, he is in fact confirming them as well: "Does Juke represent a great platform to start with? Of course it does." By lavishing the Juke with such high praise, the Nissan official indirectly confirms that if the market is there, the subcompact premium crossover would get a production green light.

As insignificant as it might seem, this new Infiniti could be the one and only car in its class. The only other costly crossover this size we can think of is the MINI Paceman/Countryman.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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