Imagine that you are a car manufacturer. Expand this notion by the fact that you are a relatively young company, founded 1989 and that you will sell 2015 a little more than 200.000 units worldwide. North America has been its most important market since the beginning, and sales in China have been getting better and better for a few years now. No wonder, after all, they are fully committed to premium. Only in Europe, you don't really know them there. It's a shame if you consider that sales of premium products, especially in the C segment, should grow significantly over the next few years. Even more annoying: they don't even have a platform on which to develop such a vehicle. As a luxury spin-off from a large Japanese brand, it does not even help them that their parent company merged with another French manufacturer at the turn of the millennium to form a really large company. There is simply no sensible premium platform. "Yes, but" they remembered "there was something". Right, the alliance with the premium manufacturer Mercedes-Benz. Because they are called Infiniti, are a subsidiary of RenaultNissan and want to finally get started in Europe with their new vehicle on the modular front-wheel drive architecture (MFA) from Mercedes. And autohub.de tells them whether the compact vehicle named Q30 could work.
The Japanese with the Swabian dialect - a completely new style in the premium golf class?
The new Infiniti Q30 in the first driving report
Admittedly, we know our derivation of the brand Infiniti was not easy, but it is important to understand where the Japanese luxury brand is today and where it wants to go. Sure, like every manufacturer, Infiniti wants to make money selling cars. In Germany, Infiniti is definitely not successful with around 1.000 units sold per year. With the Q2016, available from January 30, this could change suddenly. The "fault" is above all a gene pool from Swabia. Infiniti makes no secret of the fact that the Q30 is based on the Mercedes-Benz front-wheel drive platform, on which the A-Class and GLA are also successfully launched in the lower middle-class segment. And exactly between A and GLA, the Japanese also position their latest product, with ground clearance, seat height and height more based on the Daimler crossover. This definitely deserves a mention because 2016 is also adding a QX30, which then wants to position itself as a real SUV with a more robust appearance above the GLA.
Respect and attack in the golf class
This slight positioning weakness may indicate the respect that the Japanese have for the European compact market, which is why they don't want to dare a frontal attack on Golf & Co. and prefer to crouch a little in the crossover corner. Mother Nissan will probably remember the debacle in Europe with the Tiida, from which the successor Pulsar is only slowly recovering. These experiences were probably also the decisive factor in not simply adding the Q30 to the extremely successful platform from Qashqai and X-Trail for the attack in the premium segment. A premium shot in this class has to sit right at the first attempt and the Swabians already offer an excellent selection of motors and gearboxes in their veal tray that make the Q30 one thing above all else: confident.
Gear with feeling
But the Q30 is more than just a redesigned GLA. Since you were involved in the development of the platform at an early stage, you could also bring in your own wishes, which can be felt and felt. Would you like an example? The dual clutch transmission, which can be combined with almost all of the engines available, shifts noticeably smoother. Where in particular the A-Class sometimes rams one of the seven speed levels through the transmission bell, the same component in the Q30 feels almost as worn as with a converter transmission, which is also acoustically accompanied by a speed increase when changing gears.
Premium sound
The relationship continues in the interior, however. Anyone who has ever been in an A, B, CLA or GLA class in the past three years will now recognize many components in the Q30: window regulators, mirror adjustment, steering wheel multifunction buttons, electric seat adjustment, steering column stalk, control bar in the center console or information display In the cockpit, almost 1: 1 migrated from the Mercedes parts warehouse to the Q30. Only the handle to the gear selector lever is ineffective for the Daimler drivers, because the gear selection in the Infiniti also takes place in the classic versions in the center console and not behind the steering wheel on the right. However, a surprising difference is noticeable here too: the material impression appears in places higher quality than with the "the best or nothing" representatives. Above all, these include the “Premium” or “Sport” variants of the Alcantara roof lining, which are subject to a surcharge, as well as a lot of fine leather on the dashboard and door panels. This almost transforms the interior into an oasis of wellbeing, which is further underlined by the strikingly low noise level in the interior. The Infiniti developers have achieved this through the intensive use of noise-absorbing materials and an Active Noise Cancellation System (only in the 2,2l Diesel series), which actively emits sound waves via four door loudspeakers to counter the combustion noise of the compression-ignition engine. Only the built-in stalls cloud the overall picture at this point. He lacks length in the thigh support and depth in the sitting position for completely relaxed cruising. However, the seating position does not detract from the operation of the infotainment system, in which the Japanese trust their own development. This has advantages and disadvantages compared to the Daimler operating concept. On the one hand, the (almost seemingly small) seven-inch display can be operated by voice, rotary knob and touchscreen in the center console, but the navigation system is somewhat sluggish when it comes to route information and the graphics changes in the detailed views.
Cushions well!
The chassis setup, on the other hand, is very pleasant. Even in the 20 mm lowered sports variant, the Q30 does not want to be a dynamic and punish its occupants with gross hardness. Nevertheless, the compact Infiniti does not refrain from cornering and, especially as an all-wheel drive variant, stoically pulls through every corner radius, so that one or the other time a fun-filled smile flits across your face. All in all, the Q30 is a very balanced car that stands out with its extrovert design and wants to shine with a large number of engine options. It starts with a 1,5l Diesel with 109 PS. Top motorization is a 211 PS strong turbo petrol engine, which is only offered with automatic and all-wheel drive. The four-wheel drive is otherwise only available for the 2,2l diesel with 170 horsepower. In between there are two 1,6l petrol engines with 122 and 156 PS. Anyone familiar with the smaller Mercedes-Benz drives will be familiar with all these four-cylinder units, because they are contributed by the Stern or the Renault Rombus.
Premium in price
The prices of the Japanese are quite self-confident. At 24.200 euros it starts with the base of the Q30, equipped with the smallest gasoline engine. The top of the flagpole is then only reached at 43.720 euros for the Q30 Sport with the City Black Edition and the most powerful petrol engine. Infiniti is priced exactly between the technical affinity of the A and GLA class. But you have to put the pricing of the Japanese into perspective, because with the opulent City Black Edition in particular, the customer receives virtually full equipment that not only focuses on luxury, but also on security. These include blind spot warning, lane departure warning, collision warning system with emergency braking assistant, adaptive cruise control with automatic maintenance of the selected distance to the vehicle in front, traffic sign recognition, LED headlights and an automatic parking assistant with all-round view monitor, to name just a few highlights.
Conclusion: Yoidesu!
The Infiniti Q30 offers a polarizing change in the C segment!
Yoidesu! This is Japanese and means: Good! And that is clearly the first impression. At least!
A slightly elevated seating position in connection with a coupé-like appearance is currently in high demand and because the Q30 not only fulfills this wish, autohub.de can attest the new Infiniti Q30 with its claim "Active Compact" very good market opportunities.
If it weren't for a “tiny” problem: in Germany there are currently only six (!) Infinti dealers (Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Dresden, Düsseldorf). This fact slows the success of the very successful Q30 right from the start. The company headquarters in Hong Kong are also aware of this and are currently working feverishly on expanding the dealer network. Hopefully with quick success.
