Sure, the Nissan Juke looks... unconventional, I guess you could say. But it gets a pass because it's actually a lot amount of fun to drive. Now there's evidence that luxury brand Infiniti might be trying to get in on that sweet Juke action. In China!
Leftlane News has a leaked photo from a Beijing press conference with a darkened teaser shot in their lineup. It is decidedly Juke-like because the Juke doesn't really look like anything else. I'd post the image here, but I don't think Jalopnik has the rights to it, so I cooked up this bad Photoshop instead.
I called the car the Infiniti QJ20 because it's just something I made up that sounds nice. The Infiniti naming system works much the same way these days.
Anyway. Leftlane News says a compact Juke-based crossover will debut this weekend at the Beijing Motor Show along with several other for-China models. But I emailed an Infiniti spokesman who told me that's not entirely the case:
...as Infiniti expands globally, and in particular China, we've announced plans to start local production of long wheelbase versions of the Q50 and QX50. In addition, we'll add a small premium crossover in China. This segment offers specific opportunities, such as allowing Infiniti to gain experience in positioning a new premium model in that market, and in marketing to 'new millennials'. There are no plans to offer this model in other markets. Details of the vehicle will be announced at a later date. It will not debut at Beijing Motor Show.
Emphasis mine. It seems clear Infiniti is working on a China-specific small crossover aimed at younger buyers, but I'm not sure it's merely going to be a rebadged Juke.
In fact, I doubt it. Infiniti is in the middle of a big push to establish themselves as an independent-ish luxury automaker, and their attempts at badge-engineering Nissans never really worked in the past, so I'd be very shocked if they did it here. My guess is it will merely be a crossover that uses the Juke's platform and engine, or something along those lines, and that photo is just some kind of placeholder. The Infiniti Q30 crossover-hatch is coming soon too.
I guess we'll find out more soon. Whatever this thing is, I hope for China's sake that it's as fun as the Juke.