Infiniti to Build Front-Drive Compact on Mercedes A-Class Platform

With the debut of the Etherea concept, Infiniti signaled that it’s developing a new compact hatchback to compete with models like the Audi A3 and BMW 1-series. What the company didn’t say then—but has subsequently told us—is that the car will borrow its underpinnings from the Mercedes-Benz parts bin. Nissan/Renault and Daimler recently announced a technology partnership, and one of the big components is the front-wheel-drive platform developed for Benz’s A- and B-class family.

We’re assured, though, that the Infiniti hatch will use its own version of the platform. Infiniti’s compact will have an atypical design for a five-door hatchback, with less of a two-box shape like the Audi A3's. It’s possible this could mean we’ll be seeing a small, low crossover from Infiniti, but it seems even more likely it’ll be a regular car with a fastback profile.

Basic powertrains will be gasoline and, for Europe, diesel, but we suspect that either a hybrid or fully electric version will be offered, as well.

The real head-scratcher here is why Nissan and Renault—which have more than 30 years of experience building front-wheel-drive platforms—would turn to Mercedes-Benz, a company with a core competency in building bigger, expensive, rear-wheel-drive luxury vehicles. We put this question directly to Nissan’s Executive Vice President Andy Palmer, who explained thusly:

“There are very few mass brands that make that walk into luxury. And there’s a reason for that, which is embedded somewhere within the way the products are executed and in the engineering. A luxury brand will need much better torsional rigidity, much better NVH than you would put into a mass brand.

If you have a product that handles like an A-class or a B-class, with that level of NVH, with that level of torsional rigidity, but you can do it at a cost which is closer to where a mass brand would be, then you’re in a very good place from a competitive point of view. And that’s where we’re trying to be.”

The Infiniti model, which will likely not be called the Etherea when it hits production, will definitely be coming to the U.S. market. Until it arrives, read our first drive of the show car here.

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TeleNav’s New Auto Platform Unites Cloud, Phone, and Car

You may not be familiar with TeleNav—the company is more of a supplier than a brand name in the automotive realm—but you can probably guess that it’s involved in telematics and navigation. (And if you couldn’t, now we told you.) TeleNav’s first product was mobile-phone navigation, but it has expanded in recent years into automotive applications—its Auto 1.0 platform is used in MyFord Touch, which has recently been updated, and the company also provides navigation software for vehicles with Sync.

TeleNav is now talking about version 2.0 of the Auto platform, which will attempt to bridge the gap between those mobile and automotive offerings while enabling more telematics- and nav-based features in the car. No OEM partners have been announced, but we have a feeling Ford will use it in a future version of MyFord SyncPlus Touch. Don’t quote us on the name.

The new platform’s primary goal is to bring down the wall that currently separates data on your phone and your infotainment system. While Bluetooth has been facilitating audio and limited data transfer for years, TeleNav wants better integration. This would allow a user to send an address or nav route from a phone to the car, and vice versa. The integration wouldn’t be completely seamless, though, as it would require users to run TeleNav’s mobile phone software. To help mitigate this inconvenience, we could see an automaker offering its own version of the TeleNav app with additional model-specific features, something akin to the suite of OnStar apps GM is offering. There’s currently no good way to fully integrate such tasks, especially in a closed system like Apple’s iOS.

TeleNav also wants to bring “the cloud” to cars. Through an internet connection, Auto 2.0 can be updated without a trip to the dealer, and users can access new or additional cloud-based applications. The platform would let carmakers customize the look and feel of these HTML5-based apps to match their specific systems. Cloud services also can help by processing data outside the vehicle for quicker responses.

In addition to improving infotainment functions, TeleNav has plans to integrate Auto 2.0 with other vehicle systems. The concept is called “electronic horizon” and basically uses GPS data to better inform the vehicle and driver, providing additional inputs and information for various safety and convenience features. Possibilities include smarter adaptive cruise control that knows when you’re going to turn or exit the highway and allows the car to slow down, and a speed-limit display or warning for curves or school zones. Several automakers have floated similar ideas; Audi has discussed GPS-connected lights on concept vehicles, BMW is looking at a transmission that can predict your next move, and many nav systems already display basic speed-limit information.

Our concern with systems like these is that a driver will become reliant on them, only to find that they don’t always function—GPS data can be spotty or incorrect, and drivers can behave in ways the system might not expect. We can envision a scenario where, based on the navigation instructions it’s providing, the car thinks you’re taking an exit ramp, but you either miss the off-ramp or choose to skip it. This could result in swiveling headlights pointing the wrong way or the car decelerating when it anticipates a cloverleaf instead of more straight highway. TeleNav says these issues would need to be ironed out by the automaker, and that services such as these would be reliant on high-precision map info. The GPS information wouldn’t replace other sensors but instead be an additional input to enable these functions.

That said, many of these features, if they can be made to function as reliably as a rearview mirror or a handbrake, could add a lot of value to built-in nav systems and infotainment setups. TeleNav is looking for ways to make that extra-cost upgrade more palatable for car buyers, and we think it may have found a few here.

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