Infiniti reveals Q30 Premium Active Compact before Frankfurt debut

Ahead of the Frankfurt Auto Show, Infiniti have taken the wraps off of the the upcoming Q30 Premium Active Compact, set for its debut later this September.

The Q30 joins the growing in popularity five-door hatchback segment in North America. The Q30 will be the premium brand’s first foray into the compact hatch market. What’s immediately clear is that Infiniti have done a remarkable job in keeping true to the concept first seen at the 2013 Frankfurt Auto Show.

So far, Infiniti have only released the one front 3/4 photo of the upscale compact hatch, and from that photo, we can see the unmistakably Infiniti rounded rectangular grille, with a crowning aluminum strip along the hood. The headlights are just as sleek as the concept’s ninja-like swoop, but I can’t help but be reminded of the Mazda3 and CX-3’s front end and lights.

While the production Q30 is largely unchanged, the 2013 concept car had a more muscular lower air dam, and we can see the production version is a little more sleek and frankly, this is one of those rare occasions where I actually prefer the production model’s looks over the concept.

I’m looking forward to the trend of the upscale brands joining in on the five-door hatch fun and utility. While Infiniti describes the Q30 as “category-breaking”, it will be interesting to see how the Q30 Premium Active Compact will stack up to the other vehicles that would be considered more “downstream”, but in the same category as far as utility and function go; i.e., the aforementioned Mazda3 and the Ford Focus.