TRAFFIC REPORT Infiniti Unveils Q80, R.I.P. Lotus, Lambo Update & Porsche News
Over the course of the last few years, the Japanese auto makers have been striving, struggling, and doing whatever they can to break into the exclusively German luxury car market. On the one hand you have Lexus that has been making amazing headway with almost their entire lineup, and then there’s Nissan’s Infiniti, which…hasn’t.
Infiniti has been struggling strictly due to the fact they are in a period of upheaval. Nissan lost two of the key players at Infiniti to other brands, and its lineup has changed names more times than a person in witness protection. Next month however, they hope to launch something that will propel them into directly competing with the Germans.
At the Paris Motor Show, Infiniti will bring what they call the Q80 Inspiration, and besides the funny name, what it aims to be is a Porsche, Audi, Mercedes and BMW killer. The lines are definitely more Porsche and Audi with a slant back style, but the overall car looks more Mercedes S Class fighter with a hint of Nissan’s GTR in the front.
Infiniti, at the moment aren’t directly stating that this is more pre-production than strictly concept, but they do say that the car should be taken “as clear intent to have an entry into the newly defined premium fastback segment.”
Here’s why I’m leaning more towards pre-pro prototype, in the press release, the first bullet point is Infiniti unveils four-door concept that will lead to future model. Emphasis mine.
Hopefully Infiniti will be able to finally secure its footing into the segment. It’s been too long since any other auto manufacturer fought with the big leaguers.
R.I.P LOTUS (UPDATE)
Well we saw it coming folks (see post below.) Yesterday we told you about the woes that had befallen Lotus. We knew it was bad. That Lotus was essentially on life support. But in all honesty, I thought that they might still have a chance. It’s with a heavy heart, and an even sadder right foot to say that Lotus, is dead. Or at least it is in America.
Following the news that Lotus had to cut over 300 employees the other day, a new report found my Car and Driver says that the exemption Lotus held for the Evora, the last Lotus to be sold in the U.S., won’t be renewed citing dwindling profits and the need to reorganize the company so it can come back possibly one day in the future.
The Elise hasn’t been sold in years, either has the Exige, the Evora was really the last road going Lotus you could buy. Now, only the track only models might come over here.
It’s a sad day, and since this very well might be the end to Lotus here in the States, the prices on Elise’s might just start shooting up so grab one now!
LOTUS LAYOFFS
Lotus, why can’t you just stay profitable? Seriously, what is wrong with the management of Lotus that it is always in dire straits and on the verge of collapse? The company’s newest woes come in the form of having to lay off 25% of its workforce or 325 people in order to keep the company afloat.
The CEO said that they had “worked very hard to avoid the need to make the proposal, but do believe that it is now essential.” He went on to say that he is still optimistic for Lotus to reemerge from this “restructuring” a stronger company, but this has happened so many times before it just feels like they are gasping for air.
I don’t get how Lotus is always on the verge of collapse? They make a great product that’s limited in production. They don’t have that many people working for them, and also make race car parts. Where is all the money hemorrhaging from?
My personal opinion is that Lotus needs to be bought up by a larger company so they can get the cash influx that say, Range Rover and Jaguar received when Tata bought them and now both of those companies are seeing record sales.
It actually wouldn’t be that bad of an idea for Tata to buy the beleaguered little company, they could do wonderful things with it, but the company could finally just be too tired to carry on. We will have to wait and see.
LAMBORGHINI’S NEW SEDAN ISN’T THE ESTOQUE…OR IS IT?
According to Motor Authority, our hopes, dreams, and aspirations are all for nought, the new Lamborghini teaser will not be the Estoque sedan we all loved and coveted. Let’s take a moment to silently reflect on what we just lost…
Well back to business, while it may not be the production ready Estoque that we all had hoped for, it is most likely a sedan. And it is possibly called the Asterion?
The name comes from Greek Mythology which could mean two things, first that it was the son of Zeus and would come to Earth in the form of a bull, or it was actually the name of the infamous Minotaur. Both would theoretically work with the whole bull motif that Lamborghini works with. But I just can’t see them losing the Spanish fighting bull nomenclature at all.
What Motor Authority did, in their highly scientific CSI grade labs of carbonite, was they took the Estoque picture and overlapped the outlined that was in the Lamborghini teaser. Here’s the thing though. While the back part doesn’t totally line up together, the front and windscreen still do. Maybe we won’t get the exact carbon copy of the Estoque, but we may very well get a revised version of the glorious 4 door we all fell in love with. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself to get through the nights.
SELF IMMOLATING AVENTADOR
Give a man an Aventador, he sets it on fire. Teach a man to Aventador, uh, wait that’s not how this goes.
This video shows what not to do when you rent a Lamborghini Aventador for the day, light it on fire. We already know that Italian bred supercars are prone to self-immolation. Heck, there is an entire set of Ferrari on fire memes that circle the internet daily.
The video seems to be set in India and looks to be at a wedding when the intrepid driver decides to show off their revving the engine skills by getting the Lambo to shoot flames. Well whenever you combine flame spitting and inexperience, it usually ends in tragedy, as did happen with this poor Aventador.
The video cuts out before we see if they managed to stop the car from completely catching on fire so the fate of the car is unknown, but it does teach a valuable lesson. Don’t mess around with $400k supercars if you don’t have the money to buy another in case the first burns to the ground.
MORE BURNING LAMBORGHINI QUESTIONS
Last week 6Speeder Derek Shiekhi provided a great possibility when it came to what the hell Lamborghini just cooked up without anyone. His money is on a revision of the Espada, a 2-door grand coupe that fits a total of two individuals and another two without any legs. Or this.
But what else could the folks over at Lamborghini be cooking up? Here are some of my best guesses.
- New Miura
A new rendition of the Miura has been floating around since 2006. The concept which debuted at the Detroit Auto Show was penned by Lamborghini’s design chief to commemorate the show and the anniversary of the original Miura.
Now if you look at the sketch above, you can definitely see the Miura influences along the side where the rear ducts are. It even has the same rear window line as the original Miura.
- What Derek said, a new Espada
It’s no secret that Lamborghini with the help from VAG has become a global powerhouse, and with that more and more customers are coming to the brand with special orders. At the moment, Lamborghini only offers 2 seaters, and a single seater with the Egoista. A 2+2 would make a lot of business sense for the company.
While everyone, including Derek immediately saw the Espada, especially with the cryptic teaser about doubling something, I just don’t see Espada in the sketch. What I can see is this.
- A production ready Estoque
When this concept came out, I almost fainted. The lines. The jet inspired everything. 4-door Lamborghini! I was absolutely in love. What could be better than a supercar? A 4-door supercar that you can bring your friends with on the ride of their lives!
Personally, I really want it to be this, but I’m not hopeful. The last time Lamborghini was talking about this they said it could receive an Audi diesel, the one meant for the R8, and that kinda disappoints me. If they were to build a 4 -door, I would hope they shove that almighty V12 lump in front of the driver and call it a day.
- Something else
There have been so many one off Lamborghinis lately; it’s hard to keep up with them all. You have the Egoista, the Veneno, Veneo Roadster, the Sesto Elemento, and a few others. Lamborghini could literally just be trolling us with that teaser line. Who knows, it could be a twin turbo version of the V12 Aventador?!
Honestly, I can’t see Lamborghini bringing back any of its old nameplates, they really have stayed away from rehashing old marquees. I think this will be decidedly new feeling, but I will agree with pretty much everyone that it will be at the very least a 2+2.
And with only a few weeks till the Paris Auto Show, we won’t have to wait that long to find out what it is!
PORSCHE GETS THE CLAMP
Some people take their jobs too seriously. Then there are those that have the self-righteous market cornered to a point where they feel entitled to the point of you just want to punch them in the face. This is a case of both.
There are people that when they see a supercar, they immediately think two things: 1) this person is an a-hole and 2) they are loaded. I’m reminded of a story Matt Farah told that when he was driving the Lamborghini Aventador someone asked him to fill up their gas tank at a gas station because quote “he had enough money.”
The same thing seems to have happened here. A parking lot attendant at an Atlanta parking lot showed off a picture of them booting a Porsche Carrera GT and caption it, “I booted a Porsche, for the people.” First off, what a high minded d-bag. It does seem that the driver didn’t pay attention to the signs concerning the parking lot, but that doesn’t excuse this person for acting like a high minded d-bag.
It’s one thing to do your job, it’s another thing to just be a moron because a person has a nice car. Not every supercar, or sportscar driver is a snobby idiot, most are actually quite pleasant. But the people that act like this give the human race a bad name.
What’s epic about this picture is that the attendant could only put the boots on the front wheels because the back ones were too big, giving me the idea of putting 305 sized rubber on all four corners so this never happens to me!
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