Infiniti Says 'No Thanks' to Convertibles, Unless Something Changes
Convertibles are a niche market, and Infiniti doesn’t feel it’s a market worth pursuing. At least, not right now.
The automaker’s product strategy chief confirmed to Car Advice that a droptop version of its second-generation Q60 coupe isn’t in the cards, eliminating the open-air option from the brand’s lineup.
Let the Germans have at it, the executive implied.
“We’re focusing only on the coupe version … a convertible is off the table for the moment,” said global senior manager of product strategy Gerardo Carmona. “Convertible volumes are pretty small, and we wanted to be focused on making a big improvement on the car.”
Infiniti offered a convertible variant of the former G37 starting in 2009, with the model rebadged as a Q60 in 2013. Droptops are nice, but they don’t help the brand much if the model it’s based on fails to inspire.
Carmona claimed Infiniti shot itself in the foot with bland restyles in the past, like the barely noticeable change between the G35 and its successor, the G37. That restyle, if you can call it that, didn’t do much to draw new sets of eyes to the brand.
“As you know … there was not a very dramatic change on the car, and we did not want that to happen again,” Carmona said.
The Q60 convertible borrowed the long-in-the-tooth corporate face of its coupe cousin until this year. With sales of both models dipping into the double digits this year, don’t expect a tearful sendoff. The 2017 Q60 adopts an aggressive take on the brand’s new design language, with a turbocharged engine lineup topping out at a 400-horsepower twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6.
[Image: Infiniti]
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I want a convertible. But I am sick and tired of the only option being one with super short rear seats. Give me a nice big seating area for four.
Someday, in our dystopian future, we will all be driving CUVs that look pretty much the same on the outside but will only have different badges, interiors, and 2.0T engines. The future could be coming sooner than you think ;)
No, they will use the banana peel for wax and they will make the bodies out of empty beer cans. The Chinese will make all these cars and for a slight upcharge you can option for a BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Cadillac, or Lincoln badge, otherwise they will all look alike. Each one of these future cars will have solar panel roofs and hoods to promote the solar industry which will get massive Federal grants and they will have speed regulators not speed governors since regulators are part of the Federal domain and not the state.
Where is the implication on the part of the employee to let the Germans have at it?