Car Parts 2011

The styling of the previous generation TL was Alfa Romeo inspiring, but they had to replace it with a new one; chubby with bucked tooth. Okay, fine. Jokes on its hideous design direction aside, I feel that Acura began to slip when the suits, unaware of how much brand equity was at risk upon the loss, decided to drop the names Legend and Integra. Acura’s mistake is literally fundamental; a marque is without a foundation if you abandon the first generation.

This was compounded with a lower than expected level of success from the Legend replacing 3.5RL, Acura's lack of foresight to develop a V8 or introduce a rear wheel drive model to answer German rivals, and their inability to stun the masses with unique and attractive design—all of which Infiniti was able to deliver and all of which are prerequisites in the luxury brand category. Personally I’d like to add their inability to deliver a replacement to the NSX halo car as a factor as well.

This conveniently brings us to Infiniti. Its stylish and athletic G37, M56 and FX provide a new found identity for Infiniti as the Japanese premium sporting brand.

And now there are discussions for a new Infiniti halo model and a new entry level as well! This can be great! Allow me to share with you the halo car I’ve already had in mind. First, heavy styling influences from the Infiniti Essence Concept you saw at the top of the post. Secondly, AWD and shared high performance technology to cozy up an association with the R35 GTR. And third, a hybrid. Yes, I just went there.

As for the entry-level, I’m not exactly sure what I’d like to see here. It used to be straightforward when the Integra and the G20 were still around, but I can say with confidence that I do not see Infiniti introducing a hot hatchback. Nor do I see any compacts from Nissan’s stable that is worthy of rebadging and I’d rather not see a CVT transmission either. Fuel efficiency is great and all, but never at the expense of a sporty engine note. No one should suffer the drone of dirt devil vacuum cleaners every morning they commute to work.

We can’t forget Renault-Nissan’s participation with Mercedes Benz either. There’s a possibility that the halo Infiniti is an IPL, Infiniti Performance Line, with AMG power. But really, since when were halo cars not supposed to be built completely in-house with pride? Likewise, it’s also a possibility for Infiniti to introduce a sister B-Class for an entry level. Yet this is doubtful too, as the B was never sold in North America (At least not in the United States, anyone Canadian care to confirm?). But I'm fine, no B-class, thank you very much. Can we ask for an IPL 1 series M Coupe fighter instead?

Things are getting a bit tricky in the future. In light of the CAFE regulations for automakers to hit an average of 35 MPG, Danny Chin’s last post suggests the potential of the new BMW inline-4 and the different ways it can be implemented for present as well as future models. Moreover, BMW has confirmed its plans on a future fwd model.

Whatever it is Acura or Infiniti plans on doing, what’s certain is, of course, the inevitable automotive industry movement required to address CAFE. If Acura is going to do anything to revamp itself into the popular marque it once was, now is definitely the time to take advantage of the CAFE regulations and the trends in efficiency and smaller vehicles. Maybe Acura had foresight after all. Maybe what they needed all along were efficient FF platforms.

Oh crap, did this train of thought turn into a complete train wreck of tangents…

Here, have an emoticon. =___=