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Infiniti Teases "Sexy Sedan" for NAIAS, Will Preview the Brand's New Design

It's been a while since Infiniti managed to stir any kind of emotion within our souls, and it's not because we're slowly turning to stone, but because its designers have been feeding on a diet of numbness and complacency.
Infiniti teaser for NAIAS 2018 1 photo
Photo: Infiniti
The Japanese luxury brand has fallen into a shadow cone lately, and it needs a bright ray of light to take it out of there. Well, it looks like it may have found it in this new concept that's coming to next month's North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Infiniti may have taken the light analogy a bit too literally as the teaser it released is a very unusual high-key picture. Considering the vehicle uses a white paint job, the excessive light is just as useful for hiding its details as its almost complete absence, but it does at least make for a more original and enchanting image.

The teaser shows the front right corner of the new sedan shot from a higher vantage point. We get to see the front radiator grille - or, rather, the lack of it, pointing toward a battery-powered model - the very slim headlights, looking like mere cuts into the car's body, and one gush into its hood that is either a very fancy aerodynamic element, or just a useless rain collector.

"A shift toward smarter, more compact and less intrusive powertrains; we were able to create an alternative form with the flowing gestures, more engaging in character and more enriching in experience," Infiniti Executive Design Director Karim Habib said of the concept, confirming we're looking at an EV. "With its long cabin, balanced proportions and muscular stance, the concept heralds a new era for Infiniti models."

Infiniti refuses to refer to this model with the "sedan" appellative, and looking at its current sales in the segment it's easy to understand why it wants to keep this as far away as possible from the rest of its similar models. Word is that a production version based on the unnamed concept would eventually be made, but we're talking about a wait of at least a couple of years.

If the final version manages to capture the novelty of the concept and give it a positive, practical turn, then we're willing to bet it'll be worth the wait. And if Infiniti decides to make it a pure plug-in electric car, then that shouldn't be a problem either considering Nissan's expertise in the field. We'll keep an eye open for Infiniti's new "sexy sedan" in Detroit and report back.
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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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