Still Largely Ignored, Infiniti Q70 Is On The Upswing Thanks To Length

With its highest monthly U.S. sales total in more than three years, Infiniti’s flagship Q70 sedan produced a 68% year-over-year increase in March 2015. That performance was followed up in April by a 115% YOY improvement for the Q70, formerly known as the M.

Yet even with particularly outstanding numbers relative to the model’s recent history, the 5-Series rival from Japan’s lowest-volume premium brand continues to be largely forgotten. Or worse, ignored.

Q70 volume has accelerated rapidly over the last seven months. Granted, it’s more common to see startling year-over-year growth from automobiles which have previously reported disastrous lows. Nevertheless, the Q70’s fourth-quarter 50% increase in 2014 preceded a 63% improvement through the first four months of 2015.

As a result of the Q70’s noteworthy improvement, the Q50’s 7% year-to-date improvement, and the Q40’s 8% uptick, Infiniti passenger car sales are up 8% in the United States in 2015. Overall, the U.S. auto industry car volume is flat.

Placing the Q70’s recent sales performance in context involves two different factors: its own history, and the condition of more significant players in its sector.

First, the history. In 2010’s first four months, Infiniti sold 4341 M sedans. That figure fell 6% to 4101 during the same period one year later. Then 2012’s first one-third of M sales slid 20% to 3260. A 40% plunge to 1956 units in the first four months of 2013 before a levelling off (down 0.4%) one year later set the stage for a massive uprising in the first four months of 2015. Yet in comparison with that 2010 achievement, Q70 sales are down 27% this year.

And what of the Q70’s upper-tier segment leaders? Mercedes-Benz’s expansive E-Class range is trending the opposite direction. E-Class sales have fallen 33% in early 2015, but at 14,700 units, it’s still a popular car. (E-Class volume has declined in nine consecutive months.) The BMW 5-Series, on the other hand, is up 10% to a best-in-class 16,359 units. Lexus’s GS is up 11% to 7615 units, more than double the Q70’s 3180-unit, four-month achievement. The Audi A6 and Cadillac CTS have also doubled up on the Q70 despite posting declines of 8% and 42%, respectively.

Regardless of its more popular history or its more popular alternatives, to what do we credit the Q70’s recent increases? Length.

Infiniti asks for only $1500 more to step out of a Q70 and into a Q70L. The proportions are still handsome; the rear seat is terrific.

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.