The Formula One-influenced Infiniti Project Black S is officially dead
Infiniti pulled its involvement from F1 this past December as the Renault Sport Formula One Team became Alpine F1 Team.
The Infiniti Project Black S with its cool Formula One-inspired powertrain is officially not happening, according to an Automotive News report on Tuesday. Infiniti confirmed with the publication it will not make its way to production as once intended.
The brand confirmed the company's decision with Roadshow, adding, "the reaction to the concept of it continues to inspire us." But the decision has seemed inevitable for a while now. The Project Black S was based on the Infiniti Q60 coupe. For starters, passenger cars continue to fall out of style in the US. Secondly, the coupe market is an even tinier sliver of passenger car sales. Although Infiniti imagined the Project Black S as a halo vehicle for the marque, the company is also in the middle of a pretty large scale turnaround operation -- and SUVs are the focus.
Infiniti also pulled its involvement from F1 this past December, which came as the brand's parent automaker-alliance, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, revealed a new strategy for the top echelon of motorsport. The former Renault Sport F1 Team launched a rebrand to become Alpine F1 Team. Americans may not know Alpine well, but the French brand is best known for the A110, launched in the 1960s. While Alpine went away in the 1990s, French automaker Renault revived the marque in 2017 with a modern A110 sports car.
With Alpine the focus of Renault's F1 efforts, it leaves Infiniti to focus on rebuilding its luxury car image. A high-performance sports coupe probably wasn't the answer to its problems, even though the powertrain was seriously cool. The Project Black S used a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 engine with a dual-hybrid system. The electrified powertrain not only included regenerative braking technology to restore typically lost energy, but it also scooped up heat energy from exhaust gases in the two turbochargers for even more power. Out the door, Infiniti came close to building a 563-horsepower riot.
Alas, it's not happening. Hopefully, the upcoming QX60 is the ticket to brand's restored success.
