Could it be a swan-song, or a commemorative model?
For the uninitiated, left-field luxury marque Infiniti might just fall under your radar in terms of automotive marques you look out for. Thirty years ago when it landed at the Detroit auto show that wasn’t the case, as all eyes were on the Japanese brand and its high-powered, tech-laden Q45 with its four-wheel steering, and even an active suspension system.
Three decades later and, outside North America, the Infiniti marque remains quite left-of-centre when buying habits are taken into account, which means that the sole image of the Q50 Signature Edition that’s making its rounds ahead of a New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) debut could be one of two things. It could be a car to mark thirty years of Infiniti, or it could be a commemorative model to end the Q50’s life cycle some 6-years after its initial introduction.
Either way, the Q50 Signature will feature “added luxury treatments” and “standard driver assistance features” to make up for its ambiguity. You get the Sport Design exterior aesthetic, bright-silver 19-inch alloys, ‘Signature Edition’ badges where required, and a leather interior offset with Kacchu aluminium brightwork.
The Q50 Signature will also benefit from Infiniti’s ProAssist Package as standard, which lumps in autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, 360º camera with moving-object detection, all-round parking sensors, and rear cross-traffic alert with braking. You also get heated front pews, a heated steering wheel, InTouch Navigation with lane-guidance and 3D graphics, InTouch Services, and live traffic updates. You even get remote-start, but we don’t see the point of that.
It’s unclear if Infiniti will bring the Q50 Signature to Australia in any of the 5 colour options that North American buyers will be treated to. Regardless, the Q50 Signature will share its motor show stand in New York with the Q Inspiration concept from the ’18 Detroit show, though it’ll miss out on the new Qs Inspiration debuting this week in Shanghai.
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