Infiniti’s Q30 compact car will be powered by Mercedes-Benz engines. The engines are likely to be the 1.6-liter and 2.0-liter units that Mercedes uses in its A-class compact car. The Q30 is based on Mercedes’s MFA front-wheel-drive compact architecture that also underpins the A class. The company did not give details of the engines.
The picture shows that the Q30 will likely have a third Mercedes-sourced engine, a diesel currently offered with the midsize Q50 sedan. The engine is badged 2.2-liter in the picture but is the same 2.1-liter unit also used in the A class.The Q30 will also get a 1.5-liter diesel from Renault.
The engine sharing deepens the partnership between the Nissan-Renault alliance and Mercedes parent Daimler, which began in 2010 and now covers 13 joint projects. The Q30 development project also will yield a crossover version called the QX30 that will go on sale next summer. Infiniti is launching the Q30 and QX30 to tap into growing demand for smaller premium cars, especially in Europe, and to help the brand to draw younger buyers.
Infiniti will release details of the Q30’s specifications when the car debuts at the Frankfurt auto show on September 15. The production Q30 is similar to the concept that Infiniti unveiled at the Frankfurt auto show in 2013.
Infiniti expects the Q30 and QX30 to give the brand a major boost in Europe, the main market for the two cars. So far Infiniti has struggled to draw sales away from the mainstream German premium brands. Infiniti sold 2,310 units in Europe through May, up 56 percent on the same period in 2014, according to market researcher JATO Dynamics.
The Q30 and QX30 will be built at Nissan’s plant in Sunderland, England, where Infiniti has an annual production capacity of 60,000 units for the cars. Half of the production will go to Europe with the rest exported to global markets including the U.S. and China. Infiniti is not expected to offer diesel versions in the U.S. and China.
