Infiniti M launches at Pebble Beach

Infiniti, Nissan’s answer to Lexus, is launching the new Infiniti M at Pebble Beach this weekend. But it won’t actually be there. As we reported recently, the Infiniti M is to be a ‘Virtual’ reveal, with digital projectors throwing the imagary on to a foam ‘Shape’ of the new Infiniti M. Cute idea, but why no real car?

Anyway, odd launch or not, this is a big deal for Infiniti. And – for the first time – the UK and Europe will also be getting the Infiniti M, which is Infiniti’s Flagship model, aimed at the Lexus LS and – I suppose – the S Class, 7 Series and XJ, although it is slightly smaller.

As we noted from the teased silhouette we saw recently, the Infiniti M seems to take a chunk of its design cues from the Infiniti Essence Coupe, which actually kicked off the Pebble Beach event a couple of days ago.

But the new Infiniti M is a very much toned-down version of the line on the Infiniti Essence. It gets an aggressive looking nose which moved fluidly in to the lights and wings. It gets a big swage line down the side, which guides you to the tail lights and somewhat puckered rear end.

Inside, luxury is the key, with accents in chrome and wood. And expect lots of toys, including an advanced climate control system, super audio and a new advanced blind-spot monitor, which will actually guide the car back in to lane out of the way of traffic.

Engines are expected to be the V6 Infiniti M37 and the V8 Infiniti M56. But it looks like we won’t get the V8 in the UK and Europe, instead we’ll get a high performance diesel version. Infiniti are also promising improvements in economy and emissions over the old model (which we won’t notice as we didn’t get it!).

The Infiniti M is expected to go on sale in the UK and Europe in the Spring of 2010.

New Infiniti M 2010 / 2011 Photo Image Gallery

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