By: IOL Motoring Staff
Sunderland, England - Infiniti has confirmed that the production version of its Q30 'premium active compact' will make its world debut at the Frankfurt motor show on 15 September.
That'll be exactly two years after the Q30 concept was revealed at the same venue in 2013, and if the solitary official picture you see above is anything to go by, it has kept remarkably close to the original design.
At the time design director Alfonso Albaisa said it was an attempt to challenge the way we think about premium compact cars - not a coupé, not a hatch or a crossover but a fusion of all three body styles, aimed at younger customers open to an alternative approach.
THE STUTTGART CONNECTION
The media puff that accompanied the picture didn't gave any details of engines or drivetrains, but there have been strong rumours floating around the cybergarage that the Q30 - and its QX30 crossover sibling (due to debut in 2016) - will share its underpinnings with the Mercedes-Benz A-Class/GLA family, including a version of Stuttgart's two-litre turbofour, in both petrol and diesel format.
And for the sharp-eyed among us, that’s borne out by the presence of a discreet ‘22d’ badge just ahead of the front door on the show car, supporting the assumption that one of the engines will be the Mercedes 2.2-litre turbodiesel in 125kW trim.
Since the Q30 - Infiniti's first ever compact car - will be built at the Nissan plant in Sunderland, in north-east England, getting right-hand drive production for the South African market should be no problem. We've asked Infiniti SA when that will be; as soon as we hear the answer, so will you.