Hybrid supercar Infiniti's last chance?

Infiniti's first attempt to develop a supercar was a failure. Rest in peace, Q50 Eau Rouge, your GT-R heart was simply too big for this world.

But now Infiniti is ready to go again with an even more radical idea: a scorching new street car augmented by bona-fide F1 hybrid tech… But if this one fails to capture the imagination of buyers, it could put the voodoo on any further go-fast halo cars.

Infiniti's latest panacea to take on the likes of Mercedes-AMG and BMW M is the Infiniti Q60 Black S concept car. It was shown at the 2017 Genenva motor show and looks very angry, sporting an exotic arrangement of carbon-fibre aero bodywork.

And Infiniti boss Roland Krueger is confident this one won't be a failure.

"Oh yes, we'll make it happen," he told motoring.com.au at the car's global premiere in Geneva.

"For every brand you need an anchor point and a halo model, and I think it's worth exploring this and making something like this happen," he said when quizzed about the Eau Rouge's failure to launch.

The Q60 Black S concept is powered by the company's 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6, which can belt out up to 300kW and 475Nm. Throw some F1 trickery in there, developed in conjunction with the Renault Formula 1 team, and you can theoretically realise a 25 per cent power boost, says the company.

Based on my very average maths, this ERS or energy recovery system could boost output to around 375kW, or 500hp, and almost 600Nm of torque. Asked if this was possible, Krueger smiled and said it was an "assumption".

Either way, this level of muscle is comparable Mercedes-AMG C 63 Coupe, which packs a twin-turbo V8.

But in an era where CO2 emissions govern what is and isn't feasible, Infiniti could be onto something special here, especially if it's as green as it is mean.

The company hasn't said what hybrid gubbins are at work within the new engine, but if it's anything like Renault's F1 hybrid system it should be able to scavenge energy from the turbo and engine to provide further boosting when required, such as when launch control is engaged or on long racetrack straights.

Making use of high-discharge lithium-ion batteries, Infiniti says the new ERS technology the Q60 Black S concept car uses "does not yet exist in a current road car".

"Infiniti's collaboration with the Renault Formula 1 team is unique in itself," he added.

The "technical partnership" between the two companies resulted in the development of the hybrid system for the new F1 race car RenaultSport showed just weeks prior, he explained.

"So we look forward to see the Black S come alive in joint teamwork between Infiniti Engineering and Renault Sport."

Asked how expensive the new model would be, considering it makes use of world-first production car hybrid tech, Kruger sidestepped.

"We will focus on the performance of the car and we'll make sure this is a viable technology that we can bring to the road. That's our first priority," he said.

It's understood the fancy-pants F1 hybrid tech is almost production-ready and if this car generates the required interest we could see a showroom model at Geneva in 12 months from now.

As Nissan's luxury car division, Infiniti has a product development budget that allows for unorthodox approaches but the seismic Eau Rouge project aired in early 2014, failed to materialise.

That car, a Q50 super sedan with the heart of an R35 Nissan GT-R, was so far along in development we even tested the Eau Rouge on the racetrack.

But it was later dumped and it remains to be seen if the new Q60 Black S can reignite the fire within Infiniti to finally launch a performance brand to take the fight to its premium German rivals.

"We want further growth and to carry Infiniti forward in order to become one of the top-tier players in the premium car industry," insisted Krueger.

What do you think? Is this Infiniti's last chance to convince potential buyers that it's serious about performance cars? If the Q60 Black S fails to eventuate, will it become the brand that cried wolf?