Infiniti Says New 4 Door Flagship Will Be A Challenger To Porsche Panamera

Infiniti is planning a sporty four-door saloon, in the style of the Porsche Panamera to become the joint flagship of an expanded range of models.

The new car is part of an ambitious £4 billion plan to become a serious global luxury brand. Infiniti wants to carve out ten per cent of the market, equivalent to about 500,000 sales by 2020, and add a further five models to its range while overhauling the current line-up.

The plan is backed up by Infiniti’s title sponsorship of Red Bull Racing, which is key to spreading awareness of Infiniti around the globe.

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cidflekken - 10/21/2013 12:44:27 PM

+3 Boost

Is it me or does Infiniti seem a bit lost with this strategy? Instead of building a luxo sedan, they want to build a sports sedan. Instead of building an exotic sports car they want to build a luxo sports car. Am I the only one that sees that as a bit backwards for a brand trying to gain volume sales?
Yes, Infiniti has always demonstrated a penchant for being "different and unique", but that strategy hasn't been working to their advantage.

kysrsoze1 - 10/22/2013 12:02:51 AM

0 Boost

I completely agree... they can't seem to get their strategy together. Although the Q30 looks pretty sweet, why they're not building a flagship 4-door off the GTR platform is beyond me. I would think they could even hybridize it fairly easily. And why do they need yet a another 7-seat SUV?

I think they need to quickly fix or ditch that joke of a new steering system they've introduced and focus again on performance over electronic nannies. That goes completely against their customer base's expectations. And I don't understand why every major manufacturer has figured out how to churn out a direct injected 2.0L turbo except Nissan (had to pilfer them from Mercedes). And for God's sake, they need to drop the ridiculous Vettel association and create a real IPL line.

Much as I love my newer G, unless something drastically changes, next time around, our garage will house another Audi.

Agent009 - 10/21/2013 2:01:16 PM

+2 Boost

They are trying to define a niche. However they know they can't keep up with the wide range of Audi, BMW, or Mercedes-Benz. so is Porsche more single focused and therefore a bit easier to target? I think not

However though we have to remember the CEO leading Infiniti now is the same that guided Audi to where it is now. So I wouldn't count them out by any respect.

dlin - 10/21/2013 3:51:23 PM

+4 Boost

Let's face it Infiniti, no matter which market you want to adventure into, you need new chassis and engines!

Dr550 - 10/22/2013 3:08:08 PM

+1 Boost

Correct. If Infiniti is moving towards the performance market, new engines, chassis, etc. are needed. Lexus is "luxury" oriented so performance is not that critical. Lexus has been using the Toyota V6's for years and no one cares. If Infiniti does not step up the with performance brakes, engines, steering then they will never reach Porsche/BMW demographics.

TheSteve - 10/22/2013 1:05:24 AM

+2 Boost

I'm thinking that with Infiniti's styling language, Porsche has nothing to worry about.

LuvMyLexus - 10/22/2013 9:11:07 PM

+1 Boost

That is a fact.

cidflekken - 10/22/2013 2:36:33 AM

+1 Boost

Something tells me that they're gonna add 2 doors to the GT-R, offer multi-tiered engine choices, then call this their flagship, Panamera-fighter. Not a bad thing by any means and it would certainly give the Porsche a good/great run, but certainly not a volume-sales driver.