In December, Infiniti announced that they would be renaming their entire model lineup. All of the automaker’s sedans would be designated “Q,” followed by a two digit number, and their SUVs would be dubbed “QX,” also followed by a digit duo. The plot twist? The numbers no longer refer to the vehicles’ engine displacements.
According to an announcement on Infiniti’s Facebook page, “the solution is pretty straightforward – use Q for cars, QX for crossovers, and double digits in increments of ten, to denote hierarchy, linked to the price point of the model, not size and not engine displacement. And no, we won’t call all-wheel drive models Q50X or QX50X. The fact that a model may feature four wheel drive, will be indicated by specific badging describing this feature on the car, and is not part of the model name.”
Infiniti is taking the brand more internationally this year, and apparently, customers didn’t see how the models fit with respect to each other. Bummer.
“I have been an owner of Infiniti for quite some time now and love it,” said Dimitry, a local enthusiast. “The car is a perfect combination of luxury and performance. The models were perfectly distinguished by letter nomenclature – G series, FX series, M series and so on. It would trigger an automatic image of the model once you heard the first letters of the model.”
Dimitry continued, “I was very surprised to hear Infiniti was renaming the model line up with a single letter – Q. While on one hand it still is going to make sense, it will take a while to go through the whole line up to finally make up that Q50 is a mid-class sedan and QX70 is an SUV, and so on. I am sure Infiniti has best intentions toward this move, but it is a bit confusing in my opinion.”
Couldn’t agree more. The Infiniti G is a modern classic. Hearing or seeing “G35” or “G37” immediately brings to mind the sleek coupe and sedan (especially the coupe). With the name change, the G37 sedan and coupe are now called “Q50” and “Q60,” respectively. Honestly, “G” is more memorable, iconic, and – well, cooler. As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
At least Infiniti had some encouraging news, again from the same post: “The really exciting implication of all this, is that it prepares the way for the introduction of several fascinating new models, above and below the current line up, a wider range of powertrains, including some truly stunning performance cars in our future.”
We’ll see. So is Infiniti's move a name or game change? It appears to be both. Not excited about the former, but the latter is definitely inspiring.
Comments