Infiniti Q30 is the QX30 in USA - because Americans don't buy hatchbacks

The Infiniti Q30 – but not in the USA

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The Infiniti Q30 premium hatchback – and the QX30 Crossover – will launch in the USA this summer, but only the QX30 moniker will be used.

To paraphrase the Bard: “What’s in a name?”. It seems, if you’re Nissan’s luxury arm, Infiniti, a great deal if you’re going to make sales.

Infiniti’s USA dealers weren’t happy with the idea of having the new Infiniti Q30 premium hatchback on their forecourts, because American car buyers just don’t understand hatchbacks – and certainly not ‘Premium’ hatchbacks.

Which, you might think, would mean the only small offering from Infiniti in the US would be the QX30, the Infiniti crossover take on the Mercedes GLA. But it’s not.

Instead of just taking the crossover version of the Q30, the QX30, Infiniti’s US dealers have persuaded Infiniti to re-name their new offerings in the US, so the Q30 becomes the QX30, the QX30 we get in Europe becomes the QX30 AWD and there will be a sporty take on the mix called QX30 S.

It all seems a bit daft, but Infiniti dealers are convinced they won’t be able to flog the Q30 if buyers see it as a hatchback, but will have no trouble if they see it as a crossover.

Randy Parker, Infiniti’s VP in the US – speaking to Automotive News – said:

The Dealer Advisory Board was very vocal in making sure we got this right for this market [and] we believe this is the most effective way to market these cars to the consumers.
It [the Q30] has coupe-like styling. But this car is a crossover. And what’s selling in the U.S.? Crossovers. So, we want to make sure consumers know we’re talking about crossovers.

Changing the Q30’s name doesn’t actually make it a crossover (and US regulators will still classify it as a car), and we would have thought just selling the QX30 as the QX30 would be the right route to go.

Does Infiniti really think US car buyers are really so naive they won’t see the Q30 is a hatchback just because they don’t call it that?

Finally, on a related note, there’s apparently no truth in the rumour that VW are going to-re-badge their diesel cars as ‘New Gas’ cars in the US. Although if US buyers are as stupid as Infiniti think, it might be a plan.