New Model Will Wear Q50S Badge
Traditional sports sedans with rear-wheel drive and manual transmissions may be dying, but they’re already dead at Infiniti. Sales of the Infiniti Q50 ended last year, leaving the automaker with an all-SUV lineup and terminating the legacy of the Infiniti G35 that did so much for the brand’s image and enthusiast credibility in the early 2000s. But a new report from Automotive News claims the Q50 is about to make a comeback.
After delaying plans for an electric sedan in the face of dwindling government support for EVs, Infiniti has instead decided to launch a new gasoline Q50 in 2027, once again based on a rear-wheel drive platform, and potentially offering a stick shift. Infiniti teased this new model, badged Q50S, at Nissan’s national dealer meeting in Las Vegas in August 20, according to the report.
A Familiar Recipe
While a Q50 revival is unexpected, Infiniti already had the ingredients lying around. The report states that the new version will be based on the same rear-wheel drive platform as the Nissan Skyline sedan sold in Japan, and will share an engine with the Nissan Z sports car. That’s essentially the same recipe as the last Q50, which launched as a 2014 model and lasted a decade without a redesign. In Japan, it swapped Infiniti badging for Nissan to become the Skyline, as did its G35 and G37 predecessors.
As for the engine, the VR30DDTT twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 used in the Z started life in the Q50, so reusing it in a new version of the Infiniti wouldn’t be a stretch either. This engine currently makes 400 horsepower in the Z, and made the same in the old Q50 Red Sport 400, but Infiniti is considering boosting output to 450 hp or more, according to the report, which cited anonymous sources familiar with the new car’s development.
Those same sources told Automotive News that a manual transmission is being considered as well. A manual Q50 was never sold in the United States, but given that Nissan sells the Z with a six-speed manual bolted to the same engine allegedly slated for the new Q50, it seems relatively straightforward to offer one in the sedan as well.
New Products Needed
As parent Nissan struggles financially, Infiniti has been starved of new products. Things have started to turn around with the arrival of a redesigned QX80 full-size SUV for the 2025 model year, and the impending arrival of the QX65, a coupe-like tow-row counterpart to the midsize QX60. But Infiniti dealers are eager for the brand to bring back sedans, according to Automotive News.
While SUVs have replaced sedans as the default choice for most car buyers, dealers interviewed by Automotive News at the Las Vegas meeting said Infiniti was leaving money on the table by cutting sedans from its lineup, particularly entry-level ones that could attract new, younger customers to the brand. At the same time, Infiniti Americas vice president Tiago Castro told the publication that a new Q50 could be a nostalgia play, “targeting the affluent 50-plus crowd, who grew up chewing pavement with the G35 sports coupe.”
Sold as both a coupe and sedan, that original G35 was a watershed moment for Infiniti. Also sharing a platform with the contemporary version of Nissan’s Z sports car, it successfully challenged the benchmark BMW 3 Series in an entry-luxury sedan segment that had a much higher profile than it does today. Infiniti never recaptured that high, even with the Q50, which was compromised by a complex steer-by-wire system. Given its current precarious state, Infiniti can’t afford another mistake with this new version.
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