New Infiniti Q50 sedan on its way.

Infiniti has officially been mentioning a next-generation Q50 sedan for a few months. Apparently, they even showed a teaser for the new car at a dealer meeting last August.

It is still rumored to use the V6 Turbo from the current Nissan Z, and will have a 6-speed manual option. Which sounds great to a few, but is basically exactly what most people don’t want anymore. A RWD sport sedan with a V6 Turbo and a 6-speed manual will probably sell very little once the “new car dust” settles.

As far as the design, it will probably be based on the current Q50 and will have similar proportions. Just like the current Nissan Z compared to the previous one. Since there is no way Infiniti is pouring tons of money into a brand-new V6 sedan with a 6-speed manual.

A car like this will sound great to a few car journalists who will no doubt praise it. However, there is currently close to zero market for such a thing in the US. If I were an Infiniti dealer, I would be panicking right now. If that’s Infiniti‘s future, the brand is in more trouble than previously thought. It seems they’ve canceled their almost-ready new EV luxury sedan for this. A quickly developed stopgap at best. A last nail in the brand’s coffin at worst.

With the death of the Ariya in the US, it seems just a matter of time until someone at Nissan wakes up and realizes an expensive V6 sedan with a 6-speed manual isn’t what Infiniti needs right now.

It seems Infiniti is stuck in time, about 20 years ago. Back when their mission was to go after German sport sedans like the BMW 3 series. The market has changed drastically since. And maybe the Infiniti brand itself is not what Nissan needs anymore…