The One Japanese Brand That Can Take on the Germans Has No Plans To

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to hear that luxury automakers that are interested in entering the high-performance, luxury segment usually go after Mercedes-AMG and BMW M right away. While Infiniti has been in the luxury segment for some time now, Infiniti executives told Automotive News that the automaker isn’t ready to taken on these brands yet.

However, the automaker plans to get its performance brand going with the Red Sport 400 Series that includes the new 400-hp Infiniti Q50S and Q60S. In addition to the twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6, the cars can also be fitted with brake, suspension and tire upgrades over the standard models. "This isn’t intended to be an AMG-fighter," stated Infiniti’s head of product strategy Keith St. Clair. "We’re not there yet. I would call this program mid-performance, our first step in that direction. To step up to a Red S will be primarily an increase in power and performance." Instead of making a competitor to the Germans, Infiniti looks like its content with offering enthusiasts with a slightly more performance-oriented model, instead of making a halo car first.

While that’s a smart move, it’s a bit gutless. Instead of going all out and making a supercar, Infiniti plans to offer pumped up versions of its cars for some more time. This way, it won’t spend an insane amount of money by creating a halo car that’s crap and can still cater to the enthusiast that’s looking for luxury. We don’t agree with the decision, but we can see why the automaker chooses to do it. Hopefully Infiniti has some real performance models coming up in the future.