The Nissan Skyline, also known as the Infiniti Q50, is reportedly getting a replacement.
Japanese outlet Best Car Web reports the next-generation model will use Nissan’s e-Power with e-4orce powertrain, as seen in the X-Trail.
This mates a 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine with a pair of electric motors and a lithium-ion battery.
2023 Infiniti Q50
In the X-Trail, the engine – which doesn’t directly drive the wheels – produces 105kW of power and 250Nm of torque, while the front electric motor produces 150kW and 330Nm and the rear produces 100kW and 195Nm.
As these e-motors hit their peaks at different times, Nissan quotes a system power output of 157kW, but no combined torque figure.
Notably, the three-cylinder engine uses variable compression technology, which Nissan first debuted on the second-generation Infiniti QX50.
2014 Infiniti Q50 Hybrid
This wouldn’t be the first time the Skyline/Q50 had offered an electrified powertrain, as it was offered with a 3.5-litre hybrid V6.
Best Car Web reports the Q50/Skyline duo will measure 4900mm long and 1850mm wide on a 2800mm wheelbase, or around 90mm longer and 30mm wider than the current model on a 50mm shorter wheelbase.
It’s unclear what platform the model will use, though the outlet reports a Skyline Crossover is also planned but could use a different platform.
Nissan Skyline Crossover
The first and thus far only generation of Skyline Crossover was simply a rebadged version of the Infiniti EX (later renamed QX50).
This was spun off the rear/all-wheel drive FM platform underpinning the Infiniti G/Nissan Skyline, Infiniti FX and Nissan 370Z, among others, but was shorter than the G sedan.
The current Q50/Skyline will celebrate its 10th birthday later this year. It’s known as the Skyline in Japan and as the Q50 elsewhere, and wore the latter nameplate in Australia until the Infiniti brand was pulled.
MORE: 25 years of failures: The car brands that didn’t succeed in Australia – Infiniti
Infiniti EV teaser 
The Skyline is the last sedan remaining in Nissan’s Japanese line-up following the axing of the Fuga/Cima (aka Infiniti Q70) last year. Nissan doesn’t sell any of its Chinese or American sedans, like the Altima/Teana, in its home market.
The Q50 is also the last passenger car remaining in Infiniti’s global line-up following the axing of the related Q60 coupe, which wasn’t offered in Japan during this generation.
It’s been 12 months since Infiniti teased what appeared to be an electric fastback it plans to build in the US from 2025, alongside a similarly shaped model from the Nissan brand.
No further news on these products has been forthcoming for the two brands.
Nissan has previously said Infiniti would become “Nissan plus”, though this mightn’t be a return to the old days of transparent rebadges like the Pathfinder-based QX4.
Besides the Q50, it currently sells only SUVs: the front/all-wheel drive QX50 and its coupe SUV sibling the QX55; the Nissan Pathfinder-based QX60; and the Nissan Patrol/Armada-based QX80.
Infiniti has receded from the global stage, and now sells cars only in China, the Middle East and North America.
