With the M Division and AMG lineup, BMW and Mercedes-Benz pioneered dedicated luxury performance divisions. Through the years, the M3 and M5 at BMW and the E63 AMG at Mercedes have been have been successful at capturing our hearts (and enthusiast dollars).
A rising Audi has made waves with the S and RS lineups and Cadillac joined the fray as well with the V-Series. So far, Japanese luxury brands have been more reluctant to join their ranks. That could be changing though. While currently only at one model with the IS-F, Lexus looks to expand its F Division in the future with new GS and possibly LS variants.
Infiniti is wanting a piece of the action as well, but is starting off its performance lineup, IPL, a little more conservatively. The IPL G Coupe introduced recently isn’t a proper M3 fighter, but more of an tuning package.
That car has left many enthusiasts wondering if there would be more substantial performance upgrades to models in the future. Autocar reports that further high performance models are in the works, with a powertrains coming from the unlikeliest of sources.
That source would be AMG. What better way for Infiniti to gain credibility then to source performance engines from one of the pioneers, AMG?
Autocar says an IPL version of the new M sedan would be the first to be gain AMG power, with a price that undercuts the E63 AMG. We’re not sure how this would benefit Mercedes-Benz much and we highly doubt a “Powered by AMG” badge would ever grace a vehicle not made by Mercedes.
We think Nissan could successfully make a performance Infiniti lineup on its own over time. It all depends where Nissan wants to go with IPL though – the current IPL G Coupe is pretty tame. But tame doesn’t command high prices and a halo image, and therefore fat margins.
Mercedes-Benz and Nissan recently completed a strategic partnership deal that should result in the sharing of four and possibly six-cylinder engines between the two. But would Mercedes go as far as to power an Infiniti IPL lineup with AMG engines? Don’t count on it.
