Under a new restructuring plan by recently anointed CEO Ivan Espinosa, Nissan is planning to create a new Skyline, which of course translates to a new Infiniti sedan in the U.S. The new model will be born inside a strategy in which the carmaker plans to reduce production from 3.5 million annually to 2.5 million while letting several thousand workers go in a streamlining process not seen since Carlos Ghosn cut staff numbers over 20 years ago.
To give its historically successful models a greater chance of survival in an increasingly competitive market, the company will cull its platform numbers from thirteen in 2024 to nine by 2032 to seven in 2035.
And one of those platforms will sit under the new Skyline. To make the company’s car production more efficient, Nissan plans to reduce the average development time from 37 months to 30 months by 2027.
At a restructuring plan press conference in May this year, Espinosa announced a full model change of the Skyline. In fact, the existence of the next model is something of an “open secret,” but there are many unknowns about its contents.
With the upcoming Skyline planned as a fully electric car, concept versions of the new Infiniti Vision Qe sedan and QXe crossover were unveiled at the 2023 Japan Mobility Show, which are reported in Japan’s Best Car magazine to give strong hints to the new Skyline’s design direction. While release dates were kept under wraps, it was confirmed that the new model would be built at the company’s Canton plant in Mississippi.
But with the recent stagnation of EV sales and revised EV policies by the Trump Administration, Nissan was forced to rethink its plans, putting new Skyline plans on hold.
That’s when Espinosa, emphasizing that an electric future is not the only choice for the Skyline, stepped in and swapped the electric powertrain for an ICE (internal combustion) one. Which is where we stand today. All we know for sure at present is that the next-gen Skyline will be powered by a gasoline engine.
That’s when we caught word of some critical news published by Automotive News. According to the site, a concept version of the Infiniti Q50 (known as Skyline in Japan), was unveiled at a secret dealer only reveal in Las Vegas. The news coming out of Nevada suggests that Nissan bosses are seriously considering the twin turbo V6 and optional 6-speed manual transmission from the Nissan Z that would pump out at least 400-hp.
But with a proposed debut of late 2027, it is expected that emissions regulations and noise restrictions will be even more stringent by then, raising concerns as to whether a pure turbocharged gasoline engine-powered vehicle is viable. However, at the hush-hush Las Vegas dealer event, Nissan executives notified local U.S. dealers that a new ICE model is on the way, so the planned electric powertrain appears to have been shelved.
To keep prices down and enable a faster launch, the new Skyline will apparently employ the current model’s platform. And with the three catchwords of V6 turbo, rear-wheel drive and 6-speed manual, Nissan, Infiniti and sports sedan fans will be salivating at this rapidly disappearing combination. In addition, Nissan is expected to reveal the next generation of their ProPilot driver assist system which will offer hands-free driving in certain situations, advanced adaptive cruise control, lane changes and exiting.
Best Car mentions rumors of a possible hybrid turbo setup, which was initially considered to help keep emissions down, but such a setup would only add to the complexity and cost of the new model, and would delay its launch.