Well, except the interior. But we can imagine…
Prior to the unveil at the Detroit Motor Show in couple of days, Infiniti has now shown the world the full exterior of their upcoming concept car: the Q Inspiration. It’s a car that they say will serve as a mould or reference point to which their future designs will stem, notably eschewing many of the cues that they have been known for.
With the Q Inspiration as a guide, we see only trace amounts of the Infiniti corporate aesthetic in the front end; that wide hexagonal maw has been toned down and more neatly incorporated into the fascia with the air inlets cleverly hidden at the edges and behind specially angled louvres.
The car also represents the first true attempt by Infiniti’s new executive design director Karim Habib and his group-led superior Alfonso Albaisa to craft a new visual identity for the brand without necessarily abandoning their roots.
It’s unclear but likely at this point that Infiniti, like so many other automakers, are choosing to design their concept cars around an electric powertrain of some sort - be it powered by hydrogen or stored entirely in batteries. Nissan, though, Infiniti’s parent company, has been experimenting with several alternative propulsion solutions, including using bio-ethanol.
Aside from this, and given their position as the manufacturer of the world’s most popular fully electric hatch (the Leaf), it’s high time we reckon that Infiniti embark on the EV path as well since they already command a price premium more in line with the high end expectations of possible contenders such as the Tesla Model S.
While we’re meant to take much of the Q Inspiration concept with a grain of salt (they’ve even photographed it on a salt lake), it’s certainly plausible that Infiniti are nonetheless developing a four-door sedan with the sporty roofline of a coupe. Whether it will adopt some or most of the design details previewed here remains to be seen.
We also know that the car, in what ever form it takes as a production model, will ride on a new platform that’s meant for use by Infiniti exclusively (and not to be shared with Nissan). It’s likely that this will begin to take shape in the coming months before an all-new model ramps up for a 2019 launch; if not as a full EV, then as a hybrid.
For more on Infiniti cars, check out our Showroom.
