M To Act as Infiniti's Flagship?

The Infiniti Q45 luxury sedan had a long run, from 1990 to 2006, but it hasn't really been missed since it left the market. It never was a particularly successful product for Infiniti.

We think the reasons are because the rest of the Infiniti lineup wasn't really up to par. Now, things have changed - drastically. The G reinvigorated Infiniti and it has been on the ascendancy ever since.

When importation of the Q was stopped in 2006, Infiniti said a new model was coming. Now they seem to be changing their tune.

Infiniti's VP of global business Toru Saito said in an interview with Automotive News that the 2011 M sedan will “play a flagship role” for the brand for the forseeable future.

This comes in part from the fact that the new M is nearly the size of the previous Q - however, it is designed to compete with competitors like the BMW 5-Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class, not the 7-Series and S-Class. Infiniti is supposedly open to the possibility of reviving the Q, but Saito said there would have to be "sufficient demand."

Interesting, we wonder what they gauge as "sufficient demand." This arrangement might work for a while, but we can't imagine Infiniti being without a true flagship forever. Doesn't work too well - just ask Cadillac. Truly prestigious brands have a flagship.