When we opened Carscoops reader Wojciech K’s email, for a brief moment, we thought what the heck is Mazda doing testing a camouflaged 3 in Germany, which says something about Infiniti’s upcoming Q30.
Seen here roaming the streets of Aachen earlier this week, the Q30 is Infiniti’s first attempt at creating a premium compact hatchback that will be followed up by a related crossover model named the QX30.
It has nothing to do with the Mazda3 other than evoking its styling – at least it does in these pictures with its wavy profile lines and pop out tail light clusters. The car is in fact, directly related to the Mercedes-Benz A-Class hatch with which it shares its front-drive MFA platform and highly likely, a similar range of four-cylinder turbocharged diesel and petrol engines.
Targeting models such as the Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series, as well as the Mercedes A-Class and even the VW Golf, the Q30 will be produced at parent company Nissan’s factory in the UK from where it will be exported to the rest of the world, including North America and China.
Production should start before the end of the year, so we could see the Q30 making its world debut in final form as early as the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.
Tip of the hat to Wojciech K. for the scoop!
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