Infinit Q30 Debuts in Frankfurt with Styling for a New Age

InfinitiInfinitiJapan, 1989 > present31 models
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has taken the wraps off its Q30 ConceptInfiniti Q30Japan, 2014 > present that shows the company’s idea of a future premium, compact hatchback that is due to enter production in 2015. The design is meant to blend portions of coupe, hatchback and crossover design and show the company’s future styling direction. The concept is purposefully asymmetrical, which Infiniti claims is to appeal to people that do not want to be conventional.

"The compact premium segment is crucial for our growth in markets like China and Europe and essential to meet the less conventional expectations of Gen X and Gen Y. Q30 Concept demonstrates how we intend to provoke the status quo with seductive product visions for a new generation of premium customers globally,” said Infiniti President Johan de Nysschen.

The Q30 is designed to appeal to younger buyers, and the car blends the sporty driving of a coupe, interior room of a hatchback and somewhat higher ride height of a crossover.

Designer Alfonso Albasia says that he was inspired by the metalworking of Italian carrozzerie and also the ability to bend modern composites to create lightweight, flowing shapes.

“Imagine combining Italian coachwork with Japanese brushstroke,” said Albasia.

Infiniti wants to be the iconoclast of luxury automakers. It wants to create designs that no other automaker would risk to put on the roads and is giving designers the freedom to work with new shapes.

The interior carries the asymmetry of the exterior forward with dual waves created by the two-tier dashboard. The air vents poke out from the dashboard and flows under the infotainment screen.

The production Q30 will be built at Infiniti’s Sunderland factory in 2015, but it will also be sold in China and the United States. Infiniti predicts that compacts will make up 85% of the premium car market in the coming years, from 60% now.