Now that is customer service: Steve Lussier, mayor of Sherbrooke in Quebec Eastern Townships, was ready for a new car, and as a hybrid vehicle owner for the past 15 years, wanted something electric.But his long-trusted Infiniti-Nissan dealership the one he bought his Infiniti Q50 Hybrid and (rare) Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid (still owns it) from didnt have a new 100-per-cent electric model to offer him.Odds are it wont for another two or three years.So the dealership pulled some strings and got him what he wanted, a used 2018 Tesla Model 3 with just 30,000 kilometers on the clock, traded in by a local businessman.In one day, the transaction was done, says Lussier, who took delivery of the well-equipped full-electric sedan last Friday. I still have discover some of its features its such an advanced-techno car but for now, I very happy about it.Our story would normally end here, but Infiniti Sherbrooke posted about the deal on its social media and inadvertently inspired numerous blog posts blowing the whole thing up headlines along the lines of mayor turning green or Infiniti dealership admits it doesn’t have electric models.The dealerships Facebook page was flooded with comments about how the brand, in an effort to retain a loyal customer, instead lost him to Elon Musk, or how Infinitis doing Teslas marketing for it.Jean-Sbastien Poulin, co-owner of Infiniti de Sherbrooke, cant believe all this fuss when, bottom line, his client wanted an electric car. Infinitis brand doesnt have yet an electric car. So I found a solution.There are plenty of dealerships that sell other brands vehicles to accommodate their customers why all these roadblocks suddenly thrown at us?And of course, Infiniti isnt the only luxury brand without a pure electric offering. Try shopping for EVs at Acura, Mercedes-Benz, Lincoln, Cadillac, Land Rover or even Lexus, the haut-de-gamme arm of hybrid hype-builder Toyota. Yes, Lussier could have bought an Infiniti-adjacent Nissan Leaf, a good vehicle (he) recently test-drove for a whole week, but he says its not where I wanted to go. Ditto the thought of heading to Sherbrooke BMW for a new i3.He wasnt content waiting a year on an admittedly attractive new Polestar, and could have been lured into a Jaguar I-Pace if the brand had had staff on hand to answer his questions when he visited the Salon du véhicule électrique in Saint-Hyacinthe last October. Oops.But then, Lussier was already hooked on a Tesla anyway. I put a $1,000 a year ago to reserve a brand-new one, he told Driving.ca. After a test drive last summer, he fell in love with the Californian electric sedan. One of my municipal councillors already owns one, and he loves it, too.Lussier didnt suddenly turn green either. (Next week at city hall,) we are going to announce additional funding to help our citizens finance their home EV-charging stations, the Mayor confided to this author.We have been doing so with a $500 municipal subsidy since 2013, but it became so popular, with more than 300 requests a year, we had to review the budget allowance. So well reveal something else next Monday.Even greener, Lussier says hes set to purchase his first electric motocross bike from the local Valcourt Bombardier (BRP), which last February bought up the now-defunct California-based Alta all-electric motorcycle company.Asked if he will eventually buy an electric Infiniti when they hit the Sherbrooke showroom, Lussier says Im eager to test-drive what my dealership will offer, but if ever I want to buy another Tesla, I know that once again, it will accommodate
Origin: An Infiniti dealership sells a Tesla to Sherbrooke’s mayor – and everybody goes crazy
Infiniti
Car Review: 2019 Infiniti Q60 I-Line Red Sport
2019 Infiniti Q60 I-Line Red SportJil McIntosh Ive always had a soft spot for coupes. Theyre not all that practical, but theres something about that styling that does it for me. And if they can back up those looks with performance, thats even better.Infiniti makes a looker out of its Q60 coupe, and it packs decent power into my top-end I-Line Red Sport tester. But there are some lacklustre spots, and while they dont entirely ruin the car, fixing them could turn this cars fortunes around.Overhauled into a next-generation model a couple of years ago, the Q60 enters 2019 with just a few tweaks. The base four-cylinder engine offered last year is gone, and the three trim levels the Luxe, Sport, and I-Line Red Sport all use a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6, along with a seven-speed automatic and all-wheel drive.In the Luxe and Sport models, the V6 makes 300 horsepower and 295 lb.-ft. of torque, but in the Red Sport, its beefed up to 400 horses and 350 lb.-ft. The Red Sport also adds an electronically-controlled dynamic suspension, 20-inch wheels instead of 19s on the base cars, and performance exhaust, along with a blacked-out grille and a carbon fibre deck lid spoiler.Pricing starts at $53,795 for the Luxe and $55,795 for the Sport, while the Red Sport begins at $65,295. Funny, that: The Red Sport comes in seven colours, most of which add $750 to the bottom line. But if you actually want it in red, its an extra $1,000.My tester also added a ProActive package of such items as lane departure mitigation, adaptive cruise control, adaptive headlamps, blind-spot intervention, and automatic high-beam headlights many of which I wouldve expected to be standard, not added in for the $3,200 cost of the package. The package also adds Direct Adaptive Steering, a quicker-ratio version that lets you select settings for Sport and Sport-Plus, Standard, Snow, and Eco. Whats never in question here is the Q60s powerplant. The engine knows exactly what its supposed to do, and it propels this coupe with authority. Its quick, acceleration is linear with virtually no turbo lag, and it keeps pulling strong and hard from first press of throttle, through to ber-effective passing power at highway speeds. The transmission is a proper mate to it, with swift-smooth upshifts and satisfyingly-blippy rev-matching on downshifts and I like that its a standard PRND shifter, not one of those ghastly electronic push-pull things. Clad in bright red calipers, the brakes have good bite and are easy to modulate.Alas, the weak link in all of this is that optional steering system. Its a steer-by-wire system, all electronic without a physical connection between steering wheel and steered wheels (a mechanical clutch bolts it all together if something malfunctions). Infinitis made considerable improvement over the first iteration of the system several years ago, but its not there yet. Even with the optional adaptive version set into the sport modes and despite direct as part of its name it lacks the crisp, direct response and feedback thats part of being a sports coupe. Exceptional performance cars feel like theyre following your eyes and anticipating where youre going to toss them next. By comparison, the Q60 looks at your steering input and says, Yeah, whatever, Ill get on it. The suspension also feels tuned more for comfort than sporty performance, too.Its a shame, because everything else points to this being a canyon-carver: The muscular good looks, the supportive seats roomy up front, headroom-deficient in the rear and the Red Sports sparkly-silver carbon fibre interior trim, which sounds over-the-top but actually looks great in person. Nobody can top Infiniti for incorporating shimmery stuff into its interiors and making it look good. The Q60 uses a dual-screen centre display that falls on both sides of the fence. To the good, I like that the navigation screen stays on up top and other functions are handled through the bottom screen, so if youre following the map, it doesnt disappear when you adjust something below. And there are hard buttons for the climate control, as well as to quickly access the screens home or audio pages.But within those pages, things tend to get too fiddly. A dial-and-button setup on the centre console for some map and camera functions seems a detached from the rest of the system. The screens and their icons look dated, at a time when buyers at this level want to show off the latest-and-greatest to their passengers. And Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, rapidly becoming the gold standard for the features lists even on economy grocery-getters, are noticeably absent.Thats the Q60s biggest problem: There are many competitors in the $60,000 segment and drivers are comparing the Infiniti to some pretty heavy hitters in the sport-coupe market, and they generally want the latest and greatest. The Q60 is gorgeous and that 400-horsepower engine is a winner, but it should handle better and you have to pop
Origin: Car Review: 2019 Infiniti Q60 I-Line Red Sport
Here’s what we can expect from Infiniti by 2023
Infiniti is planning on launching three EVs, two of which will be based on the Q and QX Inspiration concepts, pictured here.Handout / Infiniti TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. Thirty years ago, Nirvana was evolving, shoulder pads were shrinking, and Nissan wasnt about to let Toyota (and Lexus) steal all of the thunder in the luxury segment.Enter Infiniti. The end result of the so-called Horizon Task Force, a group of Nissan engineers and execs who banded together a few years prior, the luxury division launched in the U.S. in November 1989 with just two models: The Q45 luxury sedan, and the M30 coupe. We Canucks had to wait an extra year to get in on the action, and even then, the M30 was forbidden fruit instead, we got the G20 sedan. Since then, Infiniti has made its mark in the luxury segment with some remarkable products if you were in high school at any point between 2003 and 2007, theres a solid chance youve lusted after a G35 coupe. And even though its easy to dismiss Infiniti simply as an answer to the likes of Audi, BMW, or even Lexus, it does carry history: Remember the Horizon Task Force? A few members of that team were connected to the Prince Motor Company, the Japanese marque that merged with Nissan in 1966 and the one behind such cars as the R380 race car and the Skyline. Yes, the Skyline.But dont take our word for it. On its Pearl anniversary, Infiniti has also given us a sneak-peek into its near-future. Here, then, is a look at what we can expect from Infiniti over the next few years. Spoiler alert: Get ready for more crossovers and electrification.New infotainment, better smartphone integration For 2020, most Infiniti models get an infotainment update. The new system is more responsive, sharper-looking, and has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. Handout / Infiniti For 2020, the perhaps biggest news is the addition of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It certainly took Infiniti long enough, but hey, its finally here. This is part of a larger, more cohesive infotainment update across the board; in addition to better smartphone integration, Infinitis InTouch infotainment is now quicker, and boasts sharper graphics and the ability to update itself over-the-air. Its available across the lineup, save for the QX60.The rest of the lineup tweaks are relatively minor in nature the 2.0L turbo-four has been axed on the Q50 and Q60, making the 300-horsepower, 3.0L twin-turbo V6 the base engine on those two. The QX50, meanwhile, gains a handful of active driving assists now standard, and the QX80 gets a new gauge cluster with a seven-inch display, as well as fancy metal speaker grilles.In the U.S., Infiniti will offer Edition 30 variants of its entire lineup. Its essentially a cosmetic package available on Q50 and 60, plus the QX50, 60, and 80, adding black accents and wheels, unique badging and colour options, and a few extra bells and whistles. However, these wont be available in Canada, as we didnt get Infiniti until 1990. Not much sense in offering an Edition 29 now, is there?We’re getting more crossovers next year Infiniti’s QX55, essentially a QX50 with a more rakish roofline, is coming next year. Handout / Infiniti This one was almost inevitable crossover coupes are here to stay, and Infinitis getting in on the action with the QX55. It shares its major underpinnings with the QX50 including the 2.0-litre variable-compression turbo-four as well as various interior appointments and exterior bits, but naturally, wears a more rakish roofline thats actually quite reminiscent of the original FX. Infiniti isnt dishing full details on the QX55 just yet, but count on seeing it in dealers next summer as a 2021 model. Itll be closely followed by a redesigned QX60, but Infiniti is tight-lipped on the exact timing for that one.You guessed it — electrification Infiniti is planning on launching three EVs, two of which will be based on the Q and QX Inspiration concepts, pictured here. Handout / Infiniti Infiniti pioneered a handful of tech and conveniences we take for granted these days the 2003 Q45 was the first mainstream car with a back-up camera, and a few years later, the brand took the 360-degree camera system mainstream. Hell, in 1989, Infiniti was the first to offer loaner cars for whenever yours was in for service.Well, in a way, Infiniti is keeping that pioneering spirit going with its commitment to electrification. Powering cars with electrons is nothing new, but in a nutshell, the Q, Qs, and QX Inspiration concepts will inspire three new EVs two sedans, one crossover thatll enter production by 2023. Well see two distinct flavours: A fully electric EV, as well as a gas-generated variant.Both will use the same platform a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive setup but the execution will vary slightly. For fully electric variants, a high-capacity battery pack will live on the floor pan, between the motors living on the front and rear axles. The gas-generated variants, however,
Origin: Here’s what we can expect from Infiniti by 2023
Infiniti is killing off its Q70 sedan
For 2019, all Q70 3.7 LUXE content from the previously complimentary Essential package is now standard. The new standard features include valuable technology such as: INFINITI InTouch™ Navigation with InTouch™ Services, Bose® Premium Audio System with 10-speakers, Around View® Monitor with Moving Object Detection, front and rear sonar system, leather appointed seats, climate-controlled front seats and a heated, leather-wrapped steering wheel.Infiniti Infiniti is ditching the Q70 sedan from its lineup to make room for more SUV sales.The large luxury sedan will not return for the 2020 model year, according to Motor Authority. The hybrid version of the Q70 was already dumped for the 2019 model year.The Q70 can trace its roots as a luxury sedan back to the first Infiniti, the Q45.Introduced in 1989, the Q45 was a rear-wheel-drive V8-powered sedan that was built to take on the luxury cars of the day, mostly the brand-new Lexus LS400. It would go on to morph into the M37, M45 and then the M56 before it was renamed the Q70.The Q70 was Infinitis attempt to compete with the German Big Three of Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW. It was available in a few configurations, including rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive. Engine options included a 5.6-litre V8 or 3.0-litre V-6, and trims included short- or long-wheelbase sizes. Unfortunately, the model was mostly left out of most conversations. Sales of the Q70 were dropping as buyers shifted their attention away from sedans and toward larger SUVs like the full-size Infiniti QX80, which boasted a hefty sales increase in 2019 over 2018.For reference, both vehicles are powered by the same 5.6-litre V8, and both are available with all-wheel-drive, so the sedan didnt offer too many benefits over the SUV.A replacement for the vehicle has not been made public, but the brand has teased electrified vehicles that could take its
Origin: Infiniti is killing off its Q70 sedan
SUV Review: 2019 Infiniti QX60
2019 Infiniti XC60Jonathan Yarkony OVERVIEW Caspable, practical luxury seven-seater PROSExcellent practicality with an agreeable design CONSOutdated infotainment system in a plain-looking cabin VALUE FOR MONEYGood value for a luxury crossover WHAT TO CHANGE?Refresh the interior and come up with a new infotainment system HOW TO SPEC IT?Essential Package with ProPilot Assist Not every car has to be revolutionary or groundbreaking to be successful. In fact, quite the opposite success in the automotive market is often a careful curation of proven technologies and conformist packaging. Now, marketing campaigns will make every ho-hum crossover sound like its the first of its kind to land on the moon, and there might be a clever new feature here or another evolution in tech there, but often as not, buyers are skipping the trims that have every latest gizmo, doodad and the biggest wheels.To be successful, you have to get the basics right, and look good doing it, too (well, usually). The 2019 Infiniti QX60 is six years into its product cycle, three years removed from its most recent refresh, and no doubt due for replacement, but its experiencing resurgent sales and has been Infinitis best seller since its first full year in 2013. Not only is it a hit in Infiniti showrooms, its sales are creeping right up to the Nissan Pathfinder on which it is based, and it has surged ahead of the Acura MDX, its closest rival as a luxury midsize seven-seater. In fact, you could say it is the best-selling luxury midsize seven-seater since only the Lexus RX and BMW X5 surpass its sales in the segment, and those are only seven-seaters when optioned accordingly.And of all the things it does, being a seven-seater is probably the thing it does best. One of my favourite, underappreciated features in the minivan-substitute three-row crossover segment is smart second row seats that slide well out of the way for easy access to the third row. Combined with reasonable headroom and seats that arent flat on the floor (I’m looking at you, Lexus RX 350L), it makes all the difference between a usable third row and emergency-only torture zone. The Infiniti QX60 nails it. The second-row seat bottom folds in on itself and slides forward for a wide (though somewhat high) step-through and there is adult-sized headroom with limited legroom once you get back there. The third row isnt exactly lounge-like, but this is a midsize crossover, not a full-size SUV or a minivan, so its appropriate for the size and, most importantly, useful on a regular basis for more than just small kids. Complementing the easily accessible three rows of seating, the cargo space is at minimum 450 L with additional hidden storage under the floor, then more than doubles to 1,140 L when you drop the third row, and a maximum of 2,146 L with all seats folded. Not only is the big Infiniti spacious, but both rows of seats split and fold so you can fold down just one side of both rows for a very long cargo space and still have room for a few passengers in the back.The cargo capacity doesnt end with the trunk, as the QX60 also tows up to 5,000 lbs and meets the needs of cabin storage with cupholders, door pockets with room for bottles, a tray for your phone conveniently close to charging (though no wireless charging or onboard WiFi), plus a glovebox and a centre console cubby under the armrest for stashing odds and ends. Aside from the ample storage, the QX60 as-equipped would make an excellent road trip companion, topping off the long equipment list with the theatre package that add headrest-mounted monitors, wireless headphones and remote, and 120V power and HDMI port to connect game consoles or other devices. Face it, singing 99 bottles of beer on the wall just wont hold kids attention for very long these days. With everybody and all their crap easily packed in, the QX60 is ready to bore you with its completely serene, forgettable driving experience. The drivers seat is supportive and well-padded so it wont make you uncomfortable, the shifter is traditional and within easy reach, so it takes no conscious thought to shift it into reverse and drive and get going. Behind the scenes, a 3.5-litre V6 is matched with standard all-wheel drive, and power is fed through a continuously variable transmission that is designed to imitate a geared automatic transmission, so it feels much like any other average car or utility vehicle youve been driving for the past couple decades, only smoother. The engine yields 295 horsepower and 270 lb.-ft. of torque, and although it weighs over 2,000 kilos, it gets going with a pleasing, progressive acceleration to the muted soundtrack of a V6 behind a great deal of sound deadening.The CVT does its best to make the most of the premium fuel thats recommended, rated at 12.5 litres per 100 kilometres in city driving and 9.0 on the highway. In our week of a suburban mix of driving, it landed at 12.6, which not
Origin: SUV Review: 2019 Infiniti QX60
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