Cut away enough at something and it eventually disappears.
After years of paring cars from its lineup, Infiniti has just discontinued the last hold-out, the Q50 sedan, according to Car and Driver. Starting with the 2025 model year, the Nissan-owned luxury marque will be an SUV-only brand.
On Tuesday, the brand shared a preview of its upcoming 2025 lineup. The press release outlining the changes listed four vehicles: the QX50 compact SUV, the (completely unchanged) QX55 compact SUV coupé, the QX60 mid-size SUV, and the QX80 full-size SUV. Missing was the Q50 sedan, which, Nissan has since confirmed, has now reached the end of the road. That means that next year, the marque’s 35th in business will be the first in which it does not release a single car.
The Q50 won’t go down as Infiniti’s finest car, but, for now, at least, it will carry the distinction of being its last. Introduced in 2014, the compact executive car, which was called the Nissan Skyline in other markets, features a design that was at one time considered sleek and combines elements of the Essence and Etherea concepts. The most recent version of the car was available exclusively with a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 (a hybrid powertrain had previously been an option) and either rear- or all-wheel drive.
The standard version of the four-door made a rather pedestrian 300 hp, but the performance-oriented Red Sport 400 model pushed that figure up to—you guessed it—400 hp. This version of the vehicle could sprint from zero to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 183 mph, which is pretty decent for the class.
It’s not a complete surprise to see Infiniti go all-SUV. The company, which launched in 1989 with the Q45 sedan and M30 coupé, has been shedding car models for much of the last decade. In 2013, the company discontinued G- and M-Series. Then, in 2022, it stopped making the Q60 coupé, its final sports car.
Nissan has been teasing a new direction for Infiniti for what feels like years now. Whatever that ends up being, it will likely include a battery-powered model or two, though we’ll have to wait and see if one of those ends up being a car.
