Infiniti News: Rumorpile: Infiniti's 700 Horsepower Flagship

[William Maley]

We've been hearing for awhile rumors of a Infiniti flagship. Most recently, reports have pointed towards a model that would compete with the likes of the Porsche Panamera. Now a new report from Motor Trend is spilling a lot information out on this possible flagship.

The report says the new flagship will likely be a four-door version of Infiniti's Essence concept wearing either the Q80 or Q90 nameplate. Engines will include a new 3.0L turbo V6 hybrid with 550 horsepower and a 3.7L twin-turbo V6 hybrid with 700 horsepower. Both engines will feed power to a standard all-wheel drive system.

“We are not planning to create a Mercedes S-Class competitor. Our goal is to launch a revised four-door version of the Essence,” a source said.

The new flagship is expected to arrive in 2017 or 2018 with a pricetag of $100,000.

Source: Motor Trend

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

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[ZL-1]

Interesting idea!

[David]

Very Cool, I think AWD Hybrid is the way to go to get all the power that is possible down to the ground. Safer rides with better efficiency. I like it.

[Drew Dowdell]

A 3.0tt with 550hp? A 3.7tt with 700? Seems high.

[ZL-1]

A 3.0tt with 550hp? A 3.7tt with 700? Seems high.

Combined, i.e. IC + electric engines

Edited March 19, 2014 by ZL-1

[smk4565]

Of course they aren't launching an S-class competitor because they know they would fail at that. They won't be able to create the luxury and prestige and heritage that the executives and world leaders want. But it makes you wonder what their target market will be, poor man's version of an Aston Martin Rapide, or Quattroporte competitor, but neither of those cars sell.

[Drew Dowdell]

I doubt Infinit wants to get into the taxi cab market to compete with the S-Class... after all, Nissan already sells the NV200.

[David]

My world travel especially in Europe has shown me that the S Class is a heavily used Taxi of nothing special porportions. SMK you have been drinking way too much MB Coolaid.

MB Auto's are Over rated, Over priced and just plain boring.

[David]

SWEET Pic's of this ride.

[smk4565]

I doubt Infinit wants to get into the taxi cab market to compete with the S-Class... after all, Nissan already sells the NV200.

Yes, because the S-class has such a lowly image, that even with an above $90,000 MSRP it outsells any other car in its class by 2-1 or more, and and has been doing so for about 30 years. Let's think how many sedans Acura, Lincoln, Cadillac, Infiniti, Lexus, Audi and BMW sell that have a base price over $90,000, oh right, none of them do. I read on CNN Money that the S-class made an estimated $15 billion in profit from 1995-2011, which makes sense because with a $10k per car margin and 100,000 units sold globally, you come up with $1 billion per year profit. I am sure every car maker wishes they had one model that could bring in $1 billion by itself, the whole Infiniti brand probably can't do that.

[balthazar]

^ S-class sells below MSRP on average, with up to $30K worth of options added to that MSRP number.
Daimler could peg the MSRP at $180K base- doesn't mean anyone is willing to pay that... and they're not.

mercedes has to put up around $15,000 incentives to move s-classes, and one can only wonder what the real story is AFA fleet sales cutting into profits.
In order to make that kind of claimed profit on the ATPs it's moving @ in general, the car must be much cheaper to build than most folk believe (gee; really??) The 'billion $ profit/yr' claim is highly suspect.

MSRP on a 2013 S350 with NO options is 93905. cars.com shows a brand new one online, FL dealer, asking $80900.

Where MB is making profit is on the versions they jack up to $200K or thereabouts- the profit there HAS to be $125K all by itself.

[smk4565]

The 2013 model is obviously going to sell at a discount because the 2014 model is a big leap forward. Look at what 2013 Silverados are selling for, even the new 2014 Silverados have 15% off MSRP incentives this month. Mercedes operates at about a 7% margin, compared to BMW and Audi which are over 10%, but understandable with Audi, most of the mechanicals are shared with VW, and BMW doesn't have too many engines or platforms, it is pretty streamlined. Mercedes most profitable car line is the S-class though, and obviously the AMG models and high end ones help that.

The 2014 S-class according to Truecar.com is selling at .5% below MSRP, $93,000 for an average sale price for the base model, A V8 A8 is $81,000, V8 7-series is $84,000 and an LS460 at $71,000 for average sale price. The Lexus is so far dated and behind it is more like the Hyundai Equus at this point, the A8 sales are awful, the 7-series is hanging on since BMW has a loyal following and they do offer 6 cylinder and diesel options that are cheaper.

The Porsche Panamera is the only one that averages over $90,000 and it sells fairly well in the class, probably since it isn't at all like the S-class. If Infiniti wants to go into the $100,000 segment, then they need to think Panamera or Quattroporte, because they can't build a better luxury car than an S-class, but they might be able to make a 4 door luxury GT-R style car that is a sport alternative.

[ocnblu]

I find the words "hybrid" and "flagship" to be mutually exclusive. Give me a flagship with a ginormous gasoline V8 or V12, an 8 speed automatic, and real wheel drive. Because that's the way it's done by the biggest boys out there.