Nissan Sport Sedan & Infiniti Eau Rouge Concepts Debut at 2014 NAIAS

Greetings, loyal readers! It’s been about a month since our last post here at Integrity Exports, but with holidays and everything… Well, you know how it goes.

Regardless, we’re jumping straight back into the action today with a look at what the second-largest Japanese automaker, Nissan, brought to the 2014 Detroit Auto Show last week. We have two spectacular concepts to look at, so let’s just jump in head first.

Nissan Sport Sedan Concept

This is the Nissan Sport Sedan Concept. Not exactly the most intriguing title, is it? But, what the name lacks in creativity, the design more than makes up for.

You may or may not know that Nissan is in the process of revitalizing their design language to cater towards younger buyers, which explains the sweeping, athletic themes seen in this of this vibrant orange four-door. The Sport Sedan Concept is actually the third in a line of concepts that demonstrate what Nissan’s future will hold. First, the Resonance foretold their future crossovers, then the Friend-ME was aimed at showcasing future technology and city-friendly design. For the Sport Sedan, Nissan specifically wants to draw your attention to the “V-Motion” front clip, the distinctive “floating” roof and the boomerang shaped headlights, indicating future design principles for their smaller cars.

More specifically, the Nissan Sport Sedan Concept likely previews the next Nissan Maxima. In Nissan’s words, this concept embodies “that rare execution of a four-door sedan with the aura of a real sports car… intended for owners with a passion for cutting-edge design and driving dynamics.” So, clearly they have high expectations for their next-gen entry-level sedan.

Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge Concept

This is the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge Concept, and in short it is Nissan’s effort to become competitive with premium European sports cars. The concept is based on the Infiniti Q50, but it’s been substantially enhanced in almost every way. In fact, you could accurately describe the concept as a fusion of the Infiniti Q50 and the RB9 F1 race car. From the refined aerodynamics to the carbon fiber bodywork to the beefed up mechanics, everything about the Eau Rouge speaks ‘performance’.

Unfortunately, while we can pretty much guarantee that the Nissan Sport Sedan Concept will eventually come to life as the Maxima, we make no such promises of production for the Infiniti Eau Rouge Concept. However, Infiniti’s relatively new president and former CEO of Audi America, Johan de Nysschen, promises that if/when the concept makes it to production, it would feature “over 500 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque.” That’s quite a lot of oomph!

All in all, this is a very good start for Nissan in 2014, and with any luck we’ll be seeing these concepts come to life as production vehicles before the year is over.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned to Integrity Exports for more auto news later this week!