Photo: Theophilus Chin
Compact cars from premium brands are very popular at the moment. After all, who doesn't want a somewhat crammed Mercedes sedan with FWD, right? They're not the only guilty ones either, as BMW will launch a 1 Series sharing the MINI's platform.
Sooner or later, Japanese manufacturers will give chase and by that time, we'll all be driving tiny Lexus cars instead of the Camry. Infiniti has already started. At the Frankfurt Motor Show, they revealed the production version of the Q30 hatchback. It looks seriously sexy from every angle while all the metal bits are engineered by Mercedes-Benz, so it should be solid.
We've been waiting to see the Q30 since they showed the first preview concept called the Etherea back in 2011. However, very few people remember that Infiniti had other plans for the compact car segment, which were revealed at roughly the same time. We're talking about the LE Concept, a sedan version of the Nissan Leaf EV with a nicer interior. They've since dropped that idea.
Mercedes engineers were actually the ones who did most of the development work for the Q30. The engines are theirs and so is the MFA platform (shared with A-, B-, CLA- and GLA-Class). Rumor has it a new version of the same architecture (called MFA II) will debut in a few years. More compact models will be introduced by the Germans, namely a rival for the Audi TT and the GLB-Class (a beefy crossover).
So while we love the look of the 3-door Q30 made by Theophilus Chin, we can't help wonder what other Infiniti compacts will look like. Obviously, the next one will be the QX30, but we'd love to see a coupé after that.
Audi has sold about 500,000 units of the TT Coupe and Roadster. That about half the total number of Mazda Miatas, so the quattro people have been commercially successful. A small, beautiful and fast 2-seater would be ideal for Infiniti as well, attracting new customers to the brand.
So what do you guys think should be the next small from the Japanese automaker? Let us know with a quick comment.
We've been waiting to see the Q30 since they showed the first preview concept called the Etherea back in 2011. However, very few people remember that Infiniti had other plans for the compact car segment, which were revealed at roughly the same time. We're talking about the LE Concept, a sedan version of the Nissan Leaf EV with a nicer interior. They've since dropped that idea.
Mercedes engineers were actually the ones who did most of the development work for the Q30. The engines are theirs and so is the MFA platform (shared with A-, B-, CLA- and GLA-Class). Rumor has it a new version of the same architecture (called MFA II) will debut in a few years. More compact models will be introduced by the Germans, namely a rival for the Audi TT and the GLB-Class (a beefy crossover).
So while we love the look of the 3-door Q30 made by Theophilus Chin, we can't help wonder what other Infiniti compacts will look like. Obviously, the next one will be the QX30, but we'd love to see a coupé after that.
Audi has sold about 500,000 units of the TT Coupe and Roadster. That about half the total number of Mazda Miatas, so the quattro people have been commercially successful. A small, beautiful and fast 2-seater would be ideal for Infiniti as well, attracting new customers to the brand.
So what do you guys think should be the next small from the Japanese automaker? Let us know with a quick comment.
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