With the North American International Auto Show in Detroit less than a month away, Infiniti just dropped a teaser image for a new concept car making its debut at the event. According to a press release, the new concept “previews a new generation of Infiniti vehicles and represents the first manifestation of Infiniti’s new form language.”
It sounds like the new concept will preview a lot more than just what Infiniti’s future cars, crossovers, and SUVs will look like. It will also give us a glimpse at future engineering and technology. “As a new wave of technologies begins to take shape, our Detroit concept car heralds a new generation of Infiniti,” says Infiniti senior vice president of global design Alfonso Albaisa. “A seamless and stunning new design philosophy demonstrating Infiniti artistry in the new age of autonomy and breakthrough drivetrains. In Detroit, shown alongside Prototype 9, Infiniti aims to showcase a new elegance, one that strikes harmony and simplicity in a complex world.”
Prototype 9 was a stunning racecar concept that Infiniti brought to Pebble Beach back in August. It was an EV with retro racecar styling unlike anything we’ve ever seen from the brand and we would love to see Infiniti designs continue moving in the same direction as Prototype 9.
“The new Infiniti concept car will take the traditional sedan architecture to its next stage of evolution,” says Infiniti executive design director Karim Habib in the announcement. “A shift toward smarter, more compact and less intrusive powertrains; we were able to create an alternative form with flowing gestures, more engaging in character and more enriching in experience. With its long cabin, balanced proportions, and muscular stance, the concept heralds in a new era for Infiniti models.”
That doesn’t tell us a whole lot about what this concept will actually be, but our best guess is a flagship sedan. When Infiniti talks about “smarter” powertrains, we assume it’s alluding to the potentially revolutionary new variable compression engine it will start using in the 2019 QX50 crossover. If it delivers on its promises of diesel-like performance and efficiency minus the diesel-esque heavy emissions, variable compression could spread to the rest of the Infiniti lineup.
With Infiniti taking big risks in concepts and engineering lately, we can’t wait to see what the luxury brand has in store for NAIAS 2018.