Infiniti Q30 prototype spotted winter testing

Infiniti is the latest luxury automaker preparing to join the premium hatchback segment, and after seeing a prototype wrapped in garbage bags undergoing
warm-weather testing earlier last month, we’re now looking at another test mule running in the snow.

Previewed in concept form at the Frankfurt Motor Show over a year ago, the
Infiniti Q30 is set to share its platform with the
Mercedes GLA – with which it obviously shares its proportions, but from which it will be distinguished with unique styling with trademark Infiniti design cues. It’s still hard to tell much from the
spy shots (heavily camouflaged as is the prototype), but their emergence at least tells us that development is continuing apace. We wouldn’t take too much stock in the
Volvo V60 tailing it, though: automakers often benchmark the competition, but the Q30 will more directly compete with the next
V40, along with the likes of the
Audi A3,
BMW 1 Series and (maybe to a lesser extent) the
Lexus CT 200h.

Expect power to come from the same 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine used in the GLA and its stablemates as well. Production is slated to take place simultaneously in Decherd, TN, and in Sunderland, England, at
Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK – one of the largest assembly plants in Europe. A
QX30 crossover version better suited to rougher roads is slated to follow as well.