Infiniti Qs Inspiration concept outed

After confirming its intention to pull out of the Western European new car market and canning its Q30 and QX30 small cars, embattled car-maker Infiniti has had its latest concept car, the Qs Inspiration, leaked by a Chinese website.

Infiniti today released two images of the concept cars front end, but the whole kit and caboodle has been exposed by Autohome.com.cn.

Originally due to air at the 2019 Auto Shanghai motor show in China, the Qs Inspiration is a preview of the brand's upcoming EV sports sedan, one that delivers a sleek fast-back design and a slightly elevated driving position.

The Infiniti Qs Inspiration concept is based on a flexible architecture, which has been created "…specifically to accommodate high-performance electrified powertrains, and enables a reinterpretation of traditional ‘three-box’ sedan design", reads the Infiniti press statement.

Sticking to Infiniti Q concept car design norms, the new concept features minimalist headlights and brakelights, whose narrow lines are juxtaposed with the big, blocky, muscular bodywork.

The striking concept car "offers a new perspective on the design and layout of the sports sedan, with an elevated driving position and high-performance electrified all-wheel drive (e-AWD) power", says the company.

Infiniti has talked about building an EV for a long time but is yet to offer something showroom-ready. The first EVs are tipped to reach the US market by 2021.

"The age of electrification presents us with an opportunity to renew our credentials as an innovative challenger brand, ready to move quickly and decisively in this growing and exciting area of the market," stated Christian Meunier, Infiniti chairman.

As the Japanese luxury brand continues to re-evaluate its global priorities, parent company Nissan is embroiled in its own crisis as former Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi Alliance boss Carlos Ghosn continues to languish in a Japanese prison.

There is some positive news for Infiniti, however, with national Australian sales lifting by 55 per cent for the first three months of 2019. That's on the back of increased interest in the Infiniti Q60 coupe, currently it's strongest-selling model.

Total sales of 162 vehicles is up from last year's tally of 104 units for the same period.

After more than five years on sale in Australia Infiniti still only has a handful of dealerships and no 'must-have' vehicles. The company will be hoping to change this when the new Infiniti QX50 SUV arrives mid-2019.