Infiniti QX30 crossover previewed ahead of Geneva motor show

INFINITI'S SUV AND CROSSOVER BLITZ CONTINUES WITH GREENLIT QX30

    Infiniti has released a preview of the QX30 concept, which is scheduled to debut next month at the Geneva motor show. The concept itself is meant to preview a premium compact crossover that will fill a niche that the Hong Kong-based company has so far overlooked in favor of larger SUVs.

    The QX30 concept will follow the Q30 concept that we saw at the Frankfurt auto show all the way back in 2013. That car promised remarkably similar packaging and design, and it will also lead to a production vehicle in the near future. The similarities between the upcoming QX30 and the 2013 Q30 concept are evident, and it does not appear that the designers' approach to the CUV has shifted significantly from its concept sibling.

    Said to combine the lines of a coupe with the high seating position of a crossover and the interior space of a hatch, the QX30 concept will preview a rakish and adventurously styled premium compact crossover that will go into production in the U.K. this summer alongside the Q30, according to statements made by former Infiniti boss Johan de Nysschen last summer.

    It appears that both the QX30 and the Q30 will reach production; the latter is confirmed with a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four engine along with the CLA-class platform borrowed from Mercedes-Benz. What remains to be seen is just how different the QX30 will be from the Q30.

    Since 2013, Mercedes-Benz has debuted the GLA-class, Porsche has released the Macan, Lexus has unveiled the NX, and Audi has debuted the Q3. These are the vehicles that the QX30 concept -- or rather, its future production counterpart, appears to be aiming for. Hardly a major auto show passes without a debut of a new premium compact crossover or a near-production concept, whether its producer chooses to call it a crossover or create a new and slightly silly-sounding vehicle category that invariably abuses the word "dynamic" somewhere in the explanation.

   Regardless of spin, the premium compact crossover segment is booming, and the QX30 concept might be a tad bit more than fashionably late to the party -- though to be fair, Lexus subsisted on the RX as its smallest offering for a long time before the debut of the NX in production form.