Infiniti Erases Past, Embarks in a New 'Q' Direction

Infiniti is to Nissan what Lexus is to Toyota. However, it may not be wrong to say that Toyota has achieved a bit more popularity and sales with its Lexus range of luxury vehicles than Nissan has with the Infiniti range. And it is perhaps with this in mind, that Infiniti has decided to erase their past (so to speak) and bring in a new nomenclature that will symbolise a new brand direction under the leadership of Johan de Nysschen. So, what are we talking about? Infiniti has decided to embark on a fresh start by revising their vehicle naming strategy.

The Infiniti range of cars will no longer use the G, M, EX, FX, JX, and QX prefixes to brand the cars. Instead a new nomenclature will come into effect where the cars will be branded with the Q50, Q60, Q70, QX50, QX60, QX70 and QX80 prefixes. According to Infiniti, this new nomenclature for the next generation of Infiniti cars has been inspired from Infiniti’s first iconic flagship product in 1989, the Infiniti Q45.

And the car to debut the new 'Q' badge will be the Q50, a new premium sports sedan that will be unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in January 2013. Commenting on the revised nomenclature , Johan de Nysschen, President of Infiniti Motor Company Limited, said, “Over the past few months, we have talked at length with our retailers, our customers, and our business partners about our brand. The need for a new identity and direction to promote consumer familiarity with our model range as we expand the portfolio became evident. To achieve this, we clearly needed a simple and consistent nomenclature framework. After exhaustive research and evaluation, we concluded that ‘Q’ captured the inspiration within the next generation of Infiniti models, as well as emphasising our performance credentials while harking back to our heritage with the Q45 – Infiniti’s first iconic flagship product in 1989.”