Infiniti finally got our letter that the Q30 and the QX30 looked so much alike that we thought they were the same car.
From here and forevermore they’ll both be known as the QX30, according to the automaker.
Accordingly, the QX30 comes in three flavors: QX30 (nee Q30, or Sedan Spice), QX30 AWD (nee QX30, or Crossover Spice) and a sporty edition QX30S (nee Sporty Spice).
The change in nomenclature applies to North American models only, apparently. The Q30 will live on in international markets, because you don’t have to speak as slowly for people to understand you over there.
The QX30 and QX30 AWD will be separated by ride height only — both models will sport the same 2-liter, turbocharged four under the hood. The models share similar skeletons with the Mercedes-Benz GLA/CLA class, which were developed under a partnership between Daimler and Nissan.
Source: Car & Driver, et al.
All the infinitis look like fish.
Like something Poseidon would drive.
This. Whenever I see the front of an FX, I swear that I’m looking at a pufferfish!
Those wavy lines on yet another Infiniti is all about the focus groups centering in on the female buyer. Ironically this is will be the lowest price Infiniti and the best looking in the current lineup.
“Those wavy lines on yet another Infiniti is [sic] all about the focus groups centering in on the female buyer.”
Nah.. I’m pretty femmy and they just make me puke.
http://infinitinews.com/en-US/infiniti/usa/releases/infiniti-announces-qx30-line-up-in-the-americas
There’s no greenhouse, and what little space there is behind the C-pillar looks useless and overstyled. But hey, big wheels. This is a stupid entrant in a stupid class of vehicle legitimized by the proliferation of stupid vehicular priorities.
You are so right.
Just look at that bull$hit behind the C-pillar. Why does it even exist?
I don’t know! It’s a fat opaque pillar with much DLO-fail and a squiggle of painted sheet metal that makes it look like it was dropped on the back quarter of the roof. And then they cut across it with the hatch opening.
All is madness.
Hot mess.
Why even bother installing windows?
Pillars are finally big enough that the c and d pillars are now one.
Indeed. The Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class doesn’t even try to include a quarter-panel window there.
LOL naming them after the Spice Girls is brilliant… they should have done this instead of stuuuupid QX30 name for sure, way easier to understand. And while they are at can they bring the G-series names so we know what those cars again? Q50? WTF?
Infiniti will always just be a bunch of wannabes, though.
I’ll see myself out….
Looks like somebody stepped on a Crosstrek.
Extending the hamsters’ hoodie aesthetic to the world of cars.
From the curlicue school of modern design.
I say stick 30 candles on the roof, pour a bucket of glitter over the thing, light the candles and pretend it’s a birthday cake.
It is haute couture you unwashed masses!
This thing is the poster child of overstyled car design. A Mk7 GTI looks like a masterpiece in comparison.
I dont see ugly, I see the modern Family Truckster, a combination of every single trope associated with modern cars, exaggerated for a humorous effect.
Only thing is this isnt for a film, and it aint supposed to be funny.
If the National Lampoon’s Vacation remake had been made by someone who was minimally competent, gave a damn about the source material, and was actually making a film for American audiences, the updated family truckster would have looked something like this.
What was the Vacation remake for? European audiences?
The one moment that stood out to me about that film was a quote around the start, something about “The New Vacation will stand on its own terms”, did dialogue from the films own pitch make it onto the script?
I KNEW that would just be a sh-t movie from the previews, so that’s as far as I ever saw into that movie. Ugh.
And what was it, some giant Renault Espace imitator thing?
EDIT: Definitely looks like it was built on top of a Previa.
I watched it myself, the new Truckster was a Previa with an 80’s Subaru steering wheel, and some other odd touches. It didnt exactly feel like a modern parody wagon.
I watched the film myself at theaters, it had its moments but otherwise the gags were less funny and more awkward. All the good bits were repeats of the first film.
You’ve got a point, Ryoku. This Infiniti is as much over-the-top satire as the Truckster’s 8 headlights and faux woody hood.
It even comes in hipster brown!
And that is a perfect example of how the lines between crossovers and hatchbacks are extremely blurred, especially on subcompact vehicles. I though the Kia Soul was just a hatchback until my grandmother bought a new 2014 unit, and I found out that Kia marketed it as a crossover. But that’s not even the worst offender. I’d say that distinction goes to the Mazda CX-3
I wonder if it will flop as hard as the EX35, which is now called the QX… uh.. 50? 60? Something like that. The ghost of JdN fail still haunts the place.
I can be difficult, and critical, and jaded, but with all that admitted (and even after conceding that styling/aesthetics are subjective), am I crazy for making the observation & stating that Japanese vehicles are getting more hideous, for the most part, over the last 6 to 8 years?
Think of Lexus, Infiniti, Acura and Nissan, in particular.
Short answer: You’re not crazy, at least not in observing that Lexus, Infiniti, Acura and Nissan have gone off the deep end in terms of styling.
Longer answer: I think these Japanese brands are all trying to project a unique, luxurious brand image in a post-Bangle marketplace. Mercedes and Audi have really nailed it, putting further pressure on Japanese brands to project a differentiated, upscale presence.
The Acura beak is universally hated. The Lexus spindle grill is terrible. That C-pillar on the Maxima and D-pillar on the Murano are terrible. Infiniti is probably the biggest mess – every model projects a different styling theme, none of them successful.
I miss the original Lexus GS that Guigiaro penned. The original Legend coupe. Original Infiniti Q45. The old Sentra that reminded me of an updated 2002.
“Longer answer: I think these Japanese brands are all trying to project a unique, luxurious brand image in a post-Bangle marketplace.”
Agree. The biggest criticism of Japanese cars for the longest time was that they were boring. They’re trying to fix it.
“Mercedes and Audi have really nailed it, putting further pressure on Japanese brands to project a differentiated, upscale presence.”
Disagree. MB and Audi have backed themselves into a corner where they make way too many (albeit, good looking) cars that are indistinguishable from one another. Quick, is that an A3 or A6? A CLA or a C300? And Audi, in particular, hasn’t changed styling in a decade.
“The Acura beak is universally hated. The Lexus spindle grill is terrible. ”
The original Acura beak was terrible (’09 TL, ’09 TSX, last RL). The toned down versions (’11+ TSX, ’12+ TL, etc) are just fine. The Lexus spindle ranges from “not bad” (IS, GS) to “take it easy, buddy” (RC, LS) to “patently absurd” (LX, GX).
“The biggest criticism of Japanese cars for the longest time was that they were boring.”
Since “boring” sells more cars than whatever its opposite may be, we had to wait for a silver-spoon dork like Akio to come along and feel challenged by that criticism.
Tightening up the suspension on an Avalon? Mochiron!
“Since “boring” sells more cars than whatever its opposite may be,”
Yes, but once you corner the market on boring, you have to keep growing somehow. Lexus (and others) probably rolled the dice and said it was likely they’d gain more sales with aggressive styling than they’d lose sales amongst their conservative base, so off they went. They just forgot to make it look GOOD.
That’s a pretty good reply, Chris.
You’re right, once everybody’s bought your Mr. Coffees what do you do next?
But instead of going after the enthusiast market I wish some OEM would cater to the vastly greater demographic of old people like me who just want a taller, softer-riding appliance of superb build quality.
We’d all happily sign waivers promising to never push the vehicle beyond 4/10s (once we’d had the “tenths” thing explained to us).
“Quick, is that an A3 or A6?”
Or A8 even, if you’re more than 20 feet away.
S2K,
You make a good point that Audi sedans all look similar to each other. But that said, anyone seeing an Audi knows it’s an Audi and the majority find it tasteful and upscale. I’d say the same about the Mercedes S- C- and CLS.
People seeing this QX30 will be wondering why someone went to so much trouble to put such an odd body kit on a GLA.
No – you are exactly right.
To this list I would add Toyota, which apparently believes that all head and taillights have to project above the plane of the car body, like tumors.
Toyota trucks and SUVs, in particular, look as though they’re vying with Godzilla for hegemony over a destroyed, 1/32-scale Tokyo. Forget Four Runner, Highlander, Rav 4…they should just name them Megalon, Rodan and Monster Zero.
I feel like they aren’t even trying anymore. Look, I’m not a luxury buyer and probably never will be. But I like vehicles with names personally. I drove a Chevy SILVERADO, I now drive a Jeep WRANGLER(though I realize they were originally called CJ-#’s til like the late 80’s, I think) all the luxury brands alphanumeric names just jumble in my head. Almost seems like bad business to me, if you can’t tell any of them apart how are you supposed to get people to come in and buy them?
Exactly. Every single one of them tries to out-German the Germans while forgetting that the name is the least important of their cars’ selling points. If Mercedes, instead of renaming their cars to C, E, and S-class in the early 90s, called them, let’s say, Mannheimer, Stuttgarter, and Oberstdorfer, I bet we would see a lot more proper names in the premium segment; and even more if BMW went that way too. I think Infiniti, Acura, Cadillac and Lincoln could have been better off staying with proper names that are easy to remember and distinguish (excluding Infiniti since they always used alphanumericals) and building upon that; especially since their naming schemes do not indicate a clear sense of progression in terms of prestige and price that Audi’s or BMW’s do where the higher the number in the name is, the more luxurious the car is supposed to be.
I understand that the current trend is to try to sell the brand rather than the product but a strategy in which the exact product you have is secondary to its brand is valid only for the most fashionable companies such as BMW, MB or Range Rover. And before “I have a Cadillac” or “I have an Infiniti” says all that needs to be said, you must build an identity that would warrant that image; you do that by creating strong, LONG-LASTING (listen up Cadillac and Infiniti), universally recognizable nameplates instead of epmloying those disjointed naming schemes whose logic nobody is able to follow.
IMO, right now the two worst offenders are Infiniti and Mercedes. MB still has C, E, S, but they also have GLA, GLC, GLE, GL and CLA, CLS, etc. Infinity I can’t keep straight and have stopped trying.
Caddy is potentially poised to screw the pooch as well; CTS and ATS are starting to mean something, are they going to throw that away for CT6 and the like? Or preserve CTS at least?
Upscale Juke.
The styling creases and bends on this thing are WAY overdone.
It is so well constructed, though, that if you removed the seats and filled it with water, you would have your very own Infiniti Pool…
Am I the only TTAC reader with an account that likes where Lexus/Infiniti/Nissan/Acura are going, aesthetically?
Maybe I’m the odd man out, because I also prefer our Maxima’s CVT over my ES350 6-speed…
Anywho, the first time I saw this car posted online, I immediately wanted to see one in person. Maybe I’m just part of the target market? Maybe human nature has more of a desire to vocalize complaints over compliments? Dunno. Love the discussions, though.
Food for thought; if this were a proper RWD layout with a clutch pedal, would the aesthetics be as important? I often wonder how far the knowledge of drivetrain layout bleeds into general perception/opinion.
Never has the question “Am I the only…?” been answered with “yes.” I like the look of Lexus, Honda, and Acura. Infiniti and Nissan I’m not as hot about, but it’s only the front end on a car that won’t be in production 10 years from now. You don’t see it when you’re actually driving the thing. There are better things in like to get worked up about on the Internet.
You can put down your self-appointed Thought Police card down; I didn’t break the cardinal rule of The Internet and get upset at anything.
Interrsting, though, that you would suggest I find something more important to comment on, while you yourself comment on aforementioned pointless comment. Am I to infer that, while my post is unworthy, critiquing an unworthy post is, in fact, worthy?