Sebastian Vettel’s Version of Infiniti‘s FX is now official, packing 414-hp, improved aerodynamics, 21-inch wheels and carbon fiber components giving the FX over 101-lbs in weight savings. The special edition FX was designed to Sebastian Vettel’s vision and built by Infiniti in just six months and is based on the V8 FX50S Premium. And best of all, we’re glad Infiniti and Vettel changed more than just the FX’s good looks on their collaboration.

Infiniti has teamed up with Swiss watchmaker Bell & Ross to design the Limited Edition BR02-8 Infiniti Carbon Case Purple 8 Pro Dial wristwatch.

Ahead of its official debut at the Frankfurt Auto Show, Infiniti has released a selection of photos of what will be called the Infiniti FX Sebastian Vettel Version. Wearing the name of the Formula One World Champion (and current points leader for the 2011 season), the man himself will be on hand to unveil the custom luxury crossover in Frankfurt.

Infiniti announced U.S pricing for the 2012 QX full-size SUV and the 2012 EX crossover. The QX was redesigned in 2011, so changes to the 2012 model are non-existent.

Unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the Infiniti JX Concept will go into production as both an all-wheel drive model and as a front-drive version, marking the start of more front-drivers to come.

When it was first revealed that Infiniti was planning a Sebsatian Vettel edition model, the immediate assumption was that it would be some sort of G37 Coupe. Not so.

The original assumption of Sebastian Vettel collaborating with Infiniti to produce a special edition IPL G37 Coupe may still be accurate, but now rumors are stirring that the Sebastian Vettel Edition Infiniti may actually be based on the FX model, rather than the G37. The belief is that Infiniti has already enhanced the G37 with the IPL line, and it wouldn’t make as much sense to further customize it by adding a Sebastian Vettel Edition.

In a new teaser video regarding the Vettel collaborating with Infiniti, a hint is dropped that the debut of the special edition model may occur at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Unfortunately everything is speculation right now, but Infiniti is causing some curiosity with how they’ll be taking advantage of their partnership with Vettel and whether or not it’ll pay off in the long run. Hopefully whatever model it is, Infiniti has done more than just some aesthetic changes but rather some serious performance modifications to give it a true Vettel-inspired driving experience.

Check out the video after the jump:

[Source: Jalopnik]

Infiniti is at your service… with a sweepstakes that could have you driving away a new car.

Hollywood actor Tom Cruise has recently tested the Red Bull Formula One race car at the Willow Springs racetrack in California. Tom Cruise completed 24 laps with the Red Bull team, and guiding the top gun along the track was race car driver David Coulthard.

David Coulthard and his Red Bull F1 team traveled down to Austin, Texas to check out the soon to be completed Circuit of the Americas track.

Amid all the historic autos on display at the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the Concept Lawn is a look at modern works of vehicular art – not all of them concepts either.

Vehicles on display at this year’s event included the the Infiniti Etheria concept, the SSC Tuatara concept and the Lotus Evora GTE Road Car Concept. The SSC car represents the next generation of the Ultimate Aero and will look to take back the title of the world’s fastest production car from Bugatti. As for the Lotus, it’s essentially a look at a possible street-legal track machine, merging the Evora road car and the GTE Le Mans race car together. Yet another concept was the Lexus LF-Gh – a design study that lead to the Pebble Beach reveal of the new 2013 Lexus GS350.

Other highlights included a rolling chassis of the new Lamborghini Aventador, as well as the Jaguar C-X75 concept. See all these, and even more in the video after the jump:

With a focus on functionality, innovation and safety, Infiniti has revealed its new JX crossover in Monterey as part of the week-long Pebble Beach festivities. Targeted at well-heeled families, the JX is just a concept for now, although Infiniti is promising this vehicle is nearly identical to the production version that will be revealed at the LA Auto Show in November.

First unveiled at the Paris Auto Show in concept form, Infiniti has now confirmed the IPL G Convertible will head into production, doubling the number if Infiniti Performance Line products.

Infiniti has been teasing us with the JX for some time now, but today the pieces finally fit: the luxury crossover was unveiled in its entirety at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

The JX is Infiniti’s second vehicle that seats 7 people across three rows of leather-clad seats. The first was the QX56, the Nissan Patrol-based behemoth that is more comfortable crossing the Serengeti (or in the back of rap videos) than the JX would ever be. But that’s ok. Seeing as off-roading isn’t the JX’s forte, it makes up with more curvaceous styling—a front end cribbed from the M and the Essence concept, and some deep sculpting along its flanks.

Today is a miraculous day – not only has Infiniti revealed the final teaser of their upcoming JX crossover, but the newest addition to the Infiniti lineup will get its official reveal today, August 18th.

Like the world’s slowest jigsaw puzzle, the pieces for the Infiniti JX crossover are coming together, eventually.

Here’s the sixth image in a series of seven that parent company Nissan is releasing of their upcoming seven-passenger luxury crossover, in advance of its August 18th debut at Pebble Beach. The bulbous nose shows the same styling influence that gave us the Infiniti M, and the headlights are a little less angry than that of the FX.

Punk rocker, activist, and hipster-hating Henry Rollins is Infiniti‘s newest spokesman—but not for his punk cred.

Hardcore punk isn’t exactly Infiniti’s target demographic: rather, Rollins was picked for his deep, unmistakable voice. “Our first intention was to get the voice,” said Ben Poore, vice-president of Infiniti America. “To get the spirit with an interesting tonality. It had to be authoritative and at the same time stand out,” Poore said. “We listened to hundreds of voices, but they weren’t pushing the board enough.”

While Rollins won’t be in the videos explicitly—those sleeve tattoos might scare off the Tchaikovsky demographic—his voice has already been put to use in two Infiniti ads, both of which poke fun at Lexus. The former lead singer of Black Flag is like Infiniti in that they both shake up the status quo, said Poore. There may be some old-school Hermosa Beach guys that may take umbrage at that.

Click the jump to see the first of these ads.

[Source: Kicking Tires, Delaware Online]

Set to make its Pebble Beach debut alongside the facelifted FX, Infiniti has released the second-to-last teaser image of its JX three-row luxury crossover. While the clear shot of the back of the car does give a better idea of the styling (resembling the QX56 SUV), perhaps more importantly is functionality of the shape, with the boxy rear end a departure from the sloping rear of the FX and EX – both of which have been critiqued for a lack of cargo room.

Infiniti may develop its own version of Nissan’s famous GT-R sports car. Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault and Nissan was asked if Infiniti would tap into the existing products through Nissan and use the brilliant GT-R sports car platform for a high- performance Infiniti.

Nissan and Infiniti are operating at very different sales levels because of the March natural disasters that struck Japan. Nissan’s sales increased 6 percent in July over July 2010 to 77,191 cars and trucks but Infiniti’s sales slumped, declining 24 percent to 7,410.

Infiniti has released photos of its refreshed 2012 FX ahead of its debut at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The luxury crossover gets a revised front grille and front fascia design that clearly draws inspiration from the Essence concept. Other changes on the vehicle include newly-restyled 20-inch wheels (FX35 Deluxe Touring package), an updated instrument cluster and heated seats that come standard.

Infiniti released its newest teaser photo of the upcoming JX crossover, which boasts 7-seats and one of the brand’s powerful V6 or V8 engines.

Infiniti has embarked on a one-off project, donating a 5.6-liter 400-hp engine from the full-size Qx56, to help students from a local community college build a luxurious boat.

Infiniti has just released the latest teaser photo of its upcoming 7-seater JX luxury crossover, giving any photoshop expert enough amo to render up a close likeness.

Infiniti has launched two new 15 second commercials entitled “Lullaby” and “Spa” on the brand’s Facebook page, official YouTube Channel and Twitter.

Both commercials boldly reinforce the luxury automaker’s status as the antithesis to sedate “boring” luxury, while poking fun at Lexus. Infiniti is blatantly illustrating the company’s ongoing commitment to design luxury that thrills. The Japanese automaker is trying to encourage enthusiast participation via the brand’s Facebook page by asking which ad is better to air on TV. Both ads will go to network, cable and sport market TV on July 18.“We believe in telling compelling stories with an attitude that feels more energetic and optimistic than traditional luxury brands,” said Infiniti Americas Vice President Ben Poore. “Our commercials are bold, and serve as our proclamation of confidence in our ability to move our customers emotionally as well as physically.”

Check out the videos after the jump!

Moving around to the back-side of its new 7-seat luxury crossover, Infiniti has released a second teaser image of the new JX. Giving just a glimpse of the rear taillight, it’s obvious the new JX will borrow styling cues from the rest of the brand’s crossover lineup

Automakers are stepping up their game to entice car buyers to choose their brand. Upping the ante is Infiniti – they have just launched the complimentary Infiniti Personal Assistant benefit. This service offers new Infiniti owners unlimited 24-hour access to a live team of professional assistants.

Infiniti has just released the very first image of its new JX 7-seater luxury crossover concept, which will officially be revealed at the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on August 18.

It looks as if Vilner had a light bulb go off recently, discovering that there’s a market for custom luxury interiors for various vehicles. Recently they decked out a MINI Cooper with a Bentley-styled interior package, and now they’ve added their fine touch to Infiniti’s EX and FX models. For the EX, Vilner went with a yachting theme, while the FX features your standard interior upgrades to add more luxury to the SUV.

Nissan has made it clear that it is looking to triple Infiniti brand sales by 2016 and to do so it will need more models. Niche market cars won’t help either and so Infinit will get models designed to sell in volume. Along with the JX crossover, the other major vehicle set to launch in the next few years is a rival to the Audi A3. That’s not a car that generates much attention in North America, but its an incredibly common sight on European roads.

Nissan is planning a dozen new cars for the next few years, including redesigned Altima and Sentra sedans, some new trucks, and an electric vehicle for Infiniti.

Today, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awarded the 2011 Infiniti EX35 a “Top Safety Pick” rating. This rating was given to the Infiniti based on the car achieving the Institute’s highest rating of “Good” in front, rear and side impact protections. The car also has to be equipped with electronic stability control, and earn a good rating in roof strength.

The 2012 Infiniti FX performance crossover is about to hit dealerships and will feature some extensive upgrades. For 2012, the FX model will receive a revised front grille and front fascia design, revised meter illumination, standard heated front seats on all models and the new Limited Edition FX35 AWD model.

Nissan has emerged from the global economic downturn as a powerhouse, quietly growing but without grabbing headlines like Ford or Hyundai have. Now the Japanese automaker has unveiled a new business plan titled “Nissan Power 88” that aims to grow its share of the global market to 8 percent, while bringing operating profit to a sustainable 8 percent.

In car-crazy, luxury-crazy China, sales are booming across the board—except for poor, beleaguered  Infiniti. Nissan aims to correct that.

Nissan is reportedly developing a new front-wheel hybrid drive system for the next generation Altima Hybrid that may be released as early as next year.

Nissan and Infiniti, Detroit has missed you! And to return the favor, the Japanese carmaker is bringing both barrels to the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, after a two-year absence.

Infiniti’s Performance Line (IPL) seems to be a little bit underwhelming right now, but it looks like the luxury car manufacturer is continuing to push forward to prove their IPL G37 Coupe can be a total blast to drive. By teaming up with Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull’s Formula One defending champion, Infiniti is planning to come out with a special edition G37 Coupe that’s inspired by the young driver’s prowess.

Sebastian Vettel is the best driver out there in Formula One right now, and this video shows just how smoothly and effortlessly he commands the IPL G37 Coupe. It’ll be interesting if this partnership really helps influence demand on the IPL line of offerings from Infiniti, but here’s to hoping that it’ll feature some real performance add-ons and not just some special badging and minor accessories.

Check out the video of Sebastian Vettel behind the wheel of an IPL G37 Coupe after the break.

[Source: FastLaneDaily]

A trusted Infiniti insider has confirmed the automaker has no plans to introduce the M25 into the U.S market. The M25 was to use the 2.5-liter VQ25VHR engine aimed to compete with the BMW 528i. The M25 has worked well in Japan (where cars are taxed based on displacement) and would have been a cheaper option to the G37 or M37.

Sebastian Vettel, the reigning Formula One world champion and currently in first place on the F1 leaderboard, has been appointed brand ambassador in the hopes of boosting the Infiniti brand.

Nissan North America announced today it will begin sharing information for Nissan and Infiniti vehicles with Carfax, in an effort to provide used-car shoppers with improved access to information on open safety and emissions recalls.

For years the Infiniti G37 has been the closest rival to BMW’s 3 Series in terms of driving performance, and now it appears the Nissan luxury division is preparing to take on the German automaker’s Z4 roadster.

The tie-up between Red Bull Racing and Japanese luxury brand Infiniti may extend from the race track to the street.

Infiniti might not have their own F1 team, but that little detail isn’t stopping them from helping the Red Bull team with an energy-recovery system for their F1 team. Consider it Infiniti’s foot in the grand prix door.

The Volo Auto Museum will be hosting one of the most comprehensive Hollywood car auctions ever on June 8th. Based out of Illinois, the auction will feature plenty of Hollywood’s most famous rides including the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine and Herbie, from Lindsey Lohan’s 2005 feature film. And the coolest part of the auction? No reserves!

Back in January, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration  (NHTSA) reported that, during an investigation of rust issues on 1996-04 Nissan Pathfinder and 1997-03 Infiniti QX4 SUVs, it discovered that serious rusting could cause steering problems resulting in accidents.

The Infiniti JX won’t be shown until the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August. But Infiniti already has big plans for the three-row luxury crossover, setting it into production in 2012 as a 2013 model.

Infiniti will announce the continued expansion of its lineup of luxury vehicles next week at the 2011 New York Auto Show. Details are scarce but it’s believed the two most likely candidates to get the production go-ahead are either the Infiniti branded version of the Nissan Leaf, or the Etherea Concept that was first shown at the Geneva Auto Show in March.

To do that, Infiniti of Spain and Portugal have prepared a G37S coupe rally car. Not for racing however, but to serve as a safety car for the Rallies Championship of Spain.

Yesterday, we told you about the rising influence women of different ethnicities have when it comes to vehicle purchases. And now, R.L. Polk & Co. has released new information about the correlation between women and the Asian automakers.

Starting out in the United States more than 20 years ago, the Infiniti brand began an aggressive expansion into markets outside North America a few years ago.

From Europe to Japan it seems like everyone gets better versions of cars than we do here in North America. Whether it’s a higher-performance Subaru WRX STI, a V-Spec GT-R or a Mercedes SL65 Black Series that weights 200-lbs less than ours because of carbon-fiber seats that don’t meet our safety regulations.

Who would have thought that punk icon Henry Rollins would ever end up doing voice-overs for a luxury car? Certainly not us, but while the punk days are over, Rollins is a tremendous speaker, and we’re looking forward to his work for Infiniti as the brand prepares to launch its new M Hybrid.

With 360 horsepower and an expected 32 mpg combined, the M Hybrid is more Porsche Panamera than Prius, but we’re hardly complaining. There’s also a great dig at Lexus if you look closely, and you can hit the jump to watch the ad for yourself.

[Source: Infiniti]

For several years now Infiniti’s G37 has stood as the best alternative to BMW’s 335i. Better yet, the G37 comes at a severe discount compared to its Bavarian counterpart. But even then, it’s still $35,400 and as such is out of reach for a lot of folks.

Infiniti has only been in Europe since 2008, but the brand has big ambitions: it aims to double its sales by the end of this fiscal year.

You can buy Infiniti products in Canada, Europe, China, Taiwan, Korea and parts of the Middle-East, and the brand is adding Mexico to its portfolio.

Infiniti‘s new Etherea concept, unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show, takes the coupe-styled sedan trend and meshes it with the added functionality of a crossover. As this wasn’t enough, Nissan’s luxury brand added plenty of wild styling cues and even bills it as a hybrid.

Infiniti‘s new Etherea concept is at the same time an incredible niche-market vehicle, while also trying very hard to be a car for the everyman. Part, hatchback, but with coupe styling, it’s also part crossover with a raised ride height, while even featuring a little practical hatchback thrown in for good measure. Let’s not forget that as an Infiniti it’s a luxury car and (yes, there’s an “and”) it’s also a hybrid.

And this just in… RedBull will be getting their engines for free in 2011. It’s part of a new deal by the Renault/Nissan group to promote the Infiniti brand, which is relatively new in Europe.

Infiniti‘s first hybrid, the M Hybrid luxury sedan, will go on sale March 16th, priced from $53,700. Also available with two gasoline-only engines, the M sits atop the Infiniti lineup as the brand’s flagship sedan.