Another Infiniti Model Fades to Black

Infiniti’s largest passenger car is making like the brand’s presence in Western Europe and biting the dust. As the brand’s sales falter, the slow-selling Q70 sedan positioned at the top of the lineup has been discontinued, further reducing Infiniti’s product offerings.

The cancellation was heralded by last year’s axing of the seldom-seen hybrid model.

Confirmed by Motor Authority, the Q70 will not stage a reappearance for the 2020 model year. Brand spokesman Kyle Bazemore responded in an email to the publication that Infiniti plans to “continue to focus on consumer demand with a line of sport utility vehicles, while also remaining committed to the passenger car market with the Q60 sports sedan and Q60 sports coupe.”

The Q70 was the flagship you rarely saw, unlike the model’s German, Japanese, and yes, even American rivals (Lincoln Continental not included). Starting life as the Infiniti M, the current-generation model bowed in 2011 and adopted the brand’s new naming strategy for the 2014 model year. Two engines were on offer: a 3.7-liter V6 and 5.6-liter V8, mated to a seven-speed automatic and either rear- or all-wheel drive. A long-wheelbase model also appeared, as did a hybrid.

Infiniti ditched the hybrid for the 2019 model year, foretelling the Q70’s fate.

Despite the brand’s U.S. volume declining over the past two years, most notably so in recent months (September’s year-over-year sales loss was an alarming 43.9 percent), the loss of the Q70 won’t have much of an impact on the brand. Infiniti sold 149 of them in September. Year to date, the Q70 has shed 36.8 percent of the volume it enjoyed a year earlier.

With just 2,198 sales through September, the Q70 is the slowest-selling model in Infiniti’s lineup, beating out even the discontinued QX30 subcompact crossover, which kicked the bucket earlier this year. Overall, the brand has seen its volume decline 16.5 percent since the start of the year.

No replacement has been announced. While past concept cars, such as the Q80 Inspiration and follow-up Q Inspiration, have hinted at a new flagship, nothing has materialized in the production realm. Given that the brand still has trouble selling the quite new QX50 crossover, a flagship sedan might not be the best use of resources during this troubled time.

[Image: Infiniti]