2012 Infiniti M Hybrid, at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show
Infniti is not the first car company to try to call its hybrid a performance car. In fact, you could probably hand that honor to Honda, which touted the Accord Hybrid's acceleration as much as it did its fuel economy. Since then, Porsche, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have all given the performance-hybrid idea a turn.
You could say that Infiniti has been the most expressly exuberant about its hybrid's capabilities, boasting best-in-class horsepower and some pretty remarkable fuel saving tricks all wrapped into one. How Infiniti would go about explaining the benefits of the hybrid system to potential customers has been a bit of a mystery, until now. Getting people to change their minds about hybrids as fuel-sipping rolling roadblocks to high-performance luxury sports vehicles is going to take some doing. Infiniti's solution? Tron-like lights, high-speed passes, and a dose of dramatic music.
The first commercial for the Infiniti M Hybrid is out, and it's surprisingly straightforward. A green light zips around the screen, leaving a trail behind it. The light then forms the Infiniti M's silhouette, as we've seen in so many other Inifniti ads with the black paintbrush. Then the car appears on the track in obviously overclocked footage, and we're given a final profile touting the car's horsepower and fuel economy. It's a decent ad, but a little conventional, given the message Infniti's trying to send with this car.
Does it make you want to run out and buy an Infiniti M Hybrid? Sound off in the comments below!