Infiniti will unveil Q30 concept that previews the luxury brand’s new entry model at next month’s Frankfurt auto show.

Infiniti said today the concept car will propose innovative materials to appeal to a “new generation of premium customers.”

The concept has a distinctive style to appeal to the “modern, young-minded premium customer,” Johan de Nysschen, Infiniti president, said in a statement.

Premium automakers are targeting smaller vehicle segments to add sales volume, and because of shifting consumer preferences and more stringent fuel economy requirements by governments worldwide.

The Infiniti compact will go on sale in 2015. It will compete against models such as the Mercedes A class, BMW 1 series and Audi A3.

The production car will be built at Infiniti parent Nissan’s plant in Sunderland, England, for global markets including the United States. Capacity at Sunderland is being expanded to build 60,000 units of the model a year.

Alfonso Albaisa, Infiniti Executive Design Director, likened the concept’s “slender, sleek and seductive” styling to a big cat. “When you see speedy big cats, like cheetahs, they have a slenderness and a lightweight stride. It’s almost like they’re floating. That’s the muscularity we were aiming for with Q30 Concept,” he said in the statement.

The car was previewed by the Etherea concept unveiled at the 2011 Geneva auto show. It is likely to be built on Mercedes’s MFA architecture, which underpins the A- and B-class model lines. Mercedes parent Daimler has a technology sharing partnership with Renault-Nissan.

Since he took over the brand’s leadership last year, de Nysschen has said that he wants to simultaneously push new product development below and above Infiniti’s current product lineup.

De Nysschen recently postponed the introduction of a long-planned electric luxury sedan — the LE — saying that it must wait an indefinite amount of time for a new generation of wireless battery-charging technology.

He has also stated that higher-end models will be developed above the brand’s current M flagship sedan

Honda to debut Civic Tourer

Honda will unveil the production read version of the Civic Tourer along with a revised Civic hatchback at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month. We’ve already seen the Civic Tourer Concept (pictured above) which was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year and now we’ll get to see the finished model. It will be launched early next year.

There were question marks over whether the production version would be called Civic Tourer with rumours that Honda could go back to the Aerodeck name of previous Civic estates. However, the firm has now confirmed the Civic Tourer name.

Set to be launched in early 2014, the Civic Tourer will compete alongside other newcomers like the SEAT Leon ST and the recently launched Toyota Auris Touring Sports. It will come with the same engines as the Civic including the impressive new 1.6 i-DTEC diesel. There will also the the 2.2 i-DTEC along with 1.4 i-VTEC and 1.8 i-VTEC petrols.

Alongside the new estate version, Honda is also revising the Civic hatchback which gets exterior styling tweaks and interior improvements.

Chevrolet launches Spark Bubble

Chevrolet will unveil a new special edition of the Spark at the Frankfurt Motor Show but that’s the only highlight in what will be a quiet show for the American brand. The Spark Bubble gets sporty bumpers, side mouldings and 15-inch white alloy wheels along with white or pink Bubble decals on the front wings.

Inside, the centre console has been styled to match the exterior colour pattern while the seats are made of leatherette.

All Spark models get a redesigned instrument cluster plus a new radio with Bluetooth connectivity as standard on most trim levels. There is also a CD player and USB and aux-in jacks. For audio streaming and hands-free calling, steering wheel controls can be used.

Chevrolet will also unveil a front wheel drive version of the 1.4 turbocharged petrol Trax. On sale this autumn it has a six-speed manual gearbox and accelerates from 0-62mph in 9.5 seconds. Claimed fuel consumption is 47.1mpg with start/stop with emissions of 139g/km.