Since establishing its global headquarters in Hong Kong and inaugurating Infiniti Motor Company Limited, Infiniti has taken decisive steps to strengthen its brand presence and globalize its business.
The relocation to Hong Kong means Infiniti is strategically placed for growth in emerging luxury markets such as China while remaining closely connected to the west.
An experienced management team has been assembled comprising leading multi-national executives from stand-out automotive and luxury goods brands.
The growth plan is underpinned by a commitment to offer product alternatives for a new generation of young-minded premium customers and to defy the conventions set by the brands currently dominating the premium segment.
It is a norm-challenging growth strategy, with a range of models like Q50 and Q30, an upcoming compact vehicle, which debuted as the Q30 Concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2013, both tailored for the needs of an emerging premium customer. The Q30, the first Infiniti vehicle built in Europe, is due to be launched in 2015.
The Q50 Eau Rouge, revealed at the Detroit Auto Show in January 2014, and now an engineering study based on a running prototype, hints at the high-performance credentials of the Infiniti brand.
The Q50 sports sedan is Infiniti’s first model in the company’s product offensive. It features Infiniti’s striking new design language, passionate craftsmanship and a raft of world-leading technologies, chief among them Direct Adaptive SteeringTM, the first steer-by-wire technology in a production vehicle.
The Q30 Concept, meanwhile, is unmistakably Infiniti. Its shape deliberately challenges categorization – not a coupe, not a hatch and not a crossover, but a fusion of the three body styles. It is designed for young-minded customers seeking an alternative to traditional premium compact vehicles.
The powertrain options are being extended also with the recent addition of a turbocharged two-liter gasoline engine for the Q50 in Europe. The new engine variant will initially be available to Chinese and European customers before being made available in other markets.
The global manufacturing footprint is growing also with China and the United Kingdom joining production sites in Japan and the United States.
Leveraging strategic alliances such as that with Daimler AG will lead to collaboration on advanced research and development of key future technologies and their applications.
Infiniti sold a record 101,220 new vehicles around the world in the first six months in 2014, up 30 percent compared with a year ago. The brand has broken monthly sales records globally in April, May and June this year. Infiniti grew in 31 markets around the world, including key markets such as the U.S., China, Canada and the Middle East.
In the U.S., Infiniti sold about 60,000 vehicles from January to June, a year-over-year increase of 14 percent. In Canada, sales were up 17 percent reaching about 5,100 vehicles. In China, which Infiniti is turning into its second volume hub, the company sold almost 14,000 vehicles, 130 percent up compared to a year ago and outperforming the premium market by a wide margin. Infiniti has at least doubled its sales in China in every single month in 2014 and continues to challenge other premium brands in this highly competitive market.
In addition, Infiniti has grown 23 percent in the Middle East. Driven by the Q50, Infiniti increased its sales by 63 percent in the West European premium car market and saw triple growth in Korea compared to first half of 2013.
Infiniti also continues to deliver on its promise to expand its product portfolio. Infiniti has sold about 50,000 Q50s around the world since the launch of the premium sports sedan in 2013. With its distinctive new design language, passionate craftsmanship, and world-leading technologies, it has won numbers of prestigious awards from around the world. Infiniti also introduced the new Q70L and QX80 models at the New York auto show in April this year.
The long-wheel base version of Q50 and QX50 will be introduced to the China market by the end of this year. Next up is the Q30, Infiniti’s premium compact entry for global markets, in 2015.
Infiniti has a clearly pronounced product strategy to take the brand into the next decade. Its vehicle portfolio will increase by 60 percent over the next five years, and the number of engines and transmissions will more than double. By the end of this decade, Infiniti will have eight different sedan and coupe lines, and six crossover and SUV lines, with direct injection, turbo charged gasoline, clean diesel, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and full EV powertrains.
The vision for Infiniti is clear: to produce a range of vehicles defined by emotive design, meticulous attention to detail, unsurpassed hospitality and intuitive technology.
The new and expanded portfolio is supported by additional production capacity to achieve expected sales of more than 500,000 vehicles per year by the end of the decade.
