Infiniti confirms death of GT-R sedan idea

Last year reports emerged claiming Nissan was seriously considering an Infiniti version of the GT-R supercar. The first hint came when Nissan’s global design Chief Shiro Nakamura revealed that managers were looking at the feasibility of a new high-end flagship saloon, and further speculation arose when a dealer in the United States confirmed that a meeting in Japan took place to discuss possible options for the future sedan. Those hopes have been shutdown for the foreseeable future today however, with an official statement on the matter.

At the New York Auto Show, Nissan's senior VP of sales and marketing, Brian Carolin, told Edmunds, "It's fair to say that there's nothing in the product plan for an Infiniti flagship right now. It's just not a priority in today's climate." Whether that also throws a wet blanket on the Essence as well is open to interpretation. The decision, at its root, is demand-driven, however: "Our dealers would rather have something with more volume," said Carolin. "Twelve months ago they would have said yes. Now it's way down on their wish list."

The GT-R is loosely based on Nissan's flexible FM platform but it contains so many unique elements that engineers have a separate name for the platform - PM premium midship. Nissan has admitted that the GT-R is a non-profitable model, which was thought to be part of the reason that the company would like to develop more models based on its expensive hardware.

An inside source at Nissan had previously revealed that a GT-R sedan was in the works, but it would miss out on the supercar’s 473hp (388kW) twin-turbo V6 engine to help bring down the cost. The Infiniti four-door GT-R would have been targeted at high-performance saloons like the BMW M5 and Porsche Panamera.