Latest reports suggest the highly anticipated Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge super-sedan is now shelved. The source of the latest news derived from a message by former Infiniti chief Johan de Nysschen, who is currently the new head of Cadillac.
“I heard a rumor that Noboru Tateishi is going to cop-out and shelve the Eau Rouge project now that I’m not there to pressure him,” stated de Nysschen in a message on Facebook. “Tell any Cadillac or Audi engineer ‘build me a 560hp sports sedan’ and you have to reign them in. At Infiniti, it seems easier to push water uphill. More enthusiasm for “driver’s aids,” apparently, than “driver’s cars,” in some quarters, it would seem.”
When the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge concept car was first unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show in 2014, the industry was stunned to see that the Japanese premium brand prepared a highly formidable car that was slated to take on the best of BMW M and Mercedes AMG. Thanks to the stampeding 568hp 3.8-liter V6 twin-turbo engine derived from the Nissan GT-R, the Q50 Eau Rouge concept has more than enough grunt to take on its German rivals.
A couple months ago, Infiniti initially announced plans to release the Q50 Eau Rouge for a limited production run for the price of $100,000. In fact, Evo Magazine had an opportunity to drive the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge prototype back in July.
According to Evo journalist Jethro Bovingdon, the 4-door GT-R prototype suffered a major Achilles heel despite the monstrous power unit. Due to packaging limitations, the twin-turbo V6 engine is mated to the standard Q50’s 7-speed automatic transmission instead of the more aggressive dual-clutch gearbox in the GT-R. What’s more, the GT-R’s hyper-advanced ATTESA E-TS Pro system is also not available in the Q50 Eau Rouge either. If the engineers at Nissan determine the complete GT-R powertrain is far too complicated to repackage for the Q50 body, then it might be a good idea to scrap the ambitious project anyway.
Infiniti has yet to officially respond to Johan de Nysschen’s statement. Stay tuned as we expect an update from the premium luxury Japanese automaker soon.
By Danny Choy