Infiniti Q30 concept (2013) first picture of Infiniti’s 1-series rival

This is our first look at the new Infiniti Q30 hatchback’s styling, in official design sketch form. Infiniti will display the actual Q30 concept at the Frankfurt motor show in September 2013 – the showroom model goes into production in 2015.

It’s good news for the UK – 60,000 new Q30s will roll off the production line at parent-brand Nissan’s Sunderland factory every year. The contract will create 280 new jobs at the facility and around 700 related posts across the UK.

The Q30 is Infiniti’s first foray into the hotly-fought premium hatchback sector, and prices will compete with the Audi A3 and BMW 1-series. It’ll make for an interesting comparison with the current Mercedes A-class too: both cars use Daimler’s ‘MFA’ platform under the skin.

Styling-wise, the Q30 has been heavily influenced by the 2011 Infiniti Etherea concept car, and the 2012 Emerg-e electric supercar. Infiniti Executive Design Director, Alfonso Albaisa, is so chuffed with the car’s styling he’s come over all David Attenborough: ‘When you see speedy big cats, like cheetahs, they have a slenderness and a lightweight stride. It’s almost like they’re floating. That’s the muscularity we were aiming for with Q30 Concept’.

That’s where Infiniti’s new ‘Director of Performance’ secret weapon comes in. He’s a 26 year-old German known for being rather handy behind the wheel: Sebastian Vettel. Infiniti boasts that the new Q30 will be ‘the first model Sebastian will influence from its inception’. Perhaps production Q30s could come as standard with a god-given right to overtake Australians, but we’re not ones to point the finger. Unlike Herr Vettel.

Fingers crossed the finished article turns out better than the triple F1 world champion’s special edition FX50 crossover, which cost a massive £100,800, sported a measly 29 extra horsepower, and dashes of carbonfibre aero trim.

By Ollie Kew