This is the Etherea concept, which will be Infiniti's star car at the
Geneva Motor Show in March.
As you can see, it's a five-door hatchback. All Infiniti is saying is that "it is a compact luxury model that previews how a future entry-level Infiniti could look."
What you have here, then, is a rival to the
Lexus CT 200h,
BMW 1 Series and
Volkswagen Golf. For what it's worth, we think it looks splendid.
""ETHEREA is about a new type of luxury for younger buyers," says Toru Saito of Infiniti, whose job title is longer than this whole paragraph. "It is not just a smaller version of a typically conservative and traditional luxury car."
Highlights include the unusual glass shape (which production cost realities could see get the chop for the showroom version), the small lip spoiler and the integrated tailpipe finishers.
Infiniti also says it has "innovative access arrangements", which could mean suicide rear doors, although they're not that innovative. We'll have to wait until Geneva to find out.
There are no interior shots yet as yet, but we're assured "high-tech new interpretations of traditional Japanese materials and finishes, and several design cues set to make their mark on future production models."
We expect to find out what they are at around lunchtime on March 1, when the car is unveiled in
Geneva.
Mark Nichol - 14 Feb 2011