Infiniti to sign off on hatchback model's design in January

Infiniti is hard at work engineering a luxury hatchback for 2014, and it appears that the Japanese automaker is close to picking a final design. Dutch site Autoweek.nl reports that there are three designs on the table, and one will be chosen in January. That likely means that we won't see the production hatch any time soon, but a fall showing in Paris or Los Angeles is a possibility.

The January time frame doesn't leave a lot of time for engineering Etherea-based hatch, but keep in mind that the compact Infiniti will be based on the front-drive Mercedes-Benz A-Class platform. This engineering partnership will enable Infiniti to focus its collective energy on creating a unique design inside and out.

Information about the powertrains of the Infiniti hatch are scarce, but reports that a hybrid could be part of the equation. We're guessing that a diesel is out of the question for the U.S., but a turbo-four or maybe even the 2.5-liter V6 from the G25 could be in the works.