Infiniti supercar 'frozen'

It was supposed to be a flagship supercar for Infiniti, a monstrously powerful Q50 mid-size sedan that borrows its twin-turbo 3.8-litre V6 powertrain from the Nissan GT-R to wipe the smile off the face of the Mercedes-AMG C 63.

But the 418kW/600Nm Q50 Eau Rouge has now taken a back seat as the company focuses on the launch of the Q60 coupe, the company's new image car which will be revealed at the 2016 Detroit motor show in January.

The official line from senior executives at Infiniti is that the Q50 Eau Rouge concept, which was claimed to hit 100km/h in less than four seconds, is an 'ongoing prototype study' and there is still a slim chance it could be resurrected.

However, motoring.com.au understands it's unlikely to happen any time soon and that if a high-performance Q50 eventuates it will employ a different engine.

"When you say you put things on freeze mode, it does not at all mean that things are canned," Matthew Davis, global director of product and brand communications told motoring.com.au in response to a question about the Eau Rouge's future.

The original plan was to sell just 200 units of the mad BMW M3-killer per year, but while Davis concedes the brand needs a hero car — such as the Infiniti Concept Vision Gran Turismo it revealed earlier this year — he says it's no longer a priority.

"Infiniti needs everything a premium car brand needs. We have to go slowly, gradually and with intelligence.

"I'm not saying yes or no to a supercar, but it's one of those things... designers love them, it's enticing, but at this point in Infiniti's life we have other priorities," he said.

The upcoming Q60 coupe will be the company's hero car for the time-being, and is expected to go on sale later in 2016 after making its global premiere in January at the Detroit motor show.

It's expected to be equipped with the first member of an all-new six-cylinder turbo engine family, and there's a strong chance that car will be given the high-performance treatment in future to cover the gap left by the Q50 Eau Rouge.

"We would be well served by a performance brand within the brand. There's no question," said Davis, talking up the prospect a high-performance Infiniti sub-brand to rival AMG or Audi Sport.

In the USA there is the Infiniti Performance Line brand, or IPL, but Davis says that is "strictly North American naming" and would be unlikely to form a new global performance brand for Infiniti.

"I can't say never, but I honestly don't know. The conversion sometimes comes up. They do the occasional limited editions," he said.

Infiniti's global brand director cautioned that the Japanese car-maker would be taking careful, considered steps towards these goals, and wouldn't be rushed.

"If we want to be a premium global brand there's scope for everything. We just can't do everything right away. All the natural questions would come out, we ask the same questions [internally] every day," said Davis.