Infiniti Q60 Concept: Coupe Planned For 2016
At a special event prior to the 2015 Detroit Auto Show, Infiniti officially unveiled its Q60 Concept Coupe. It gives us a good idea of what the brand’s upcoming sports coupe will look like; the new coupe is due to go on sale in 2016, according to Michael Bartsch, Vice President of Infiniti Americas.
Its “aggressive and progressive” design, as described by Alfonso Albaisa, Infiniti’s design boss, clearly announces the company’s intention to move quickly from drawing-board to showroom. We heard the same sort of thing from François Bancon, Vice President, Product Strategy, who claims that the Q60 concept car is more than a mere styling exercise: it is a further illustration of the company’s concept-to-production approach. Next year, he notes, Infiniti will produce a 2+2 coupe based on the Q60 Concept.
The new sports coupe has striking styling, with clean lines, sharp edges and scalloped sides; it is an inch and a half longer and wider than the current Q60, formerly known as the G37, and will be powered by a next-generation 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 capable of 330 to 400 hp, which we saw for the first time in the Q80 Inspiration during the Paris auto show in the fall of 2014. The V6 is one member of a new family of smaller, lighter, more efficient and more powerful engines being developed by Infiniti.
As Mr. Albaisa puts it, the Q60 Concept represents Infiniti’s vision of a coupe. Design, performance and premium quality are what makes a coupe stand out from the crowd, and that is precisely what we will find in the production version of the Q60 Concept. It is a good bet that such features as the ultra-slender side mirrors and the spotless white leather interior will not make the transition to the production version, but we can hardly wait to see…