Infiniti Australia "on track"

Vehicles are already here for local testing, market research clinics are being conducted and Infiniti dealers are in the throes of being signed up.

That's the word from Nissan Australia MD, Dan Thompson.

"We're getting to the pointy end of it," Thompson explained to motoring.com.au last week. "Certainly, in the next three months we'll be prepared to start talking about it."

The new brand's rapid formation dovetails with the plan for a late Q3 launch next year, as we reported recently. But while the launch is barely a year away, Nissan is not ready to reveal very much about the Infiniti brand just yet. Asked whether Nissan had secured a site for the landmark dealership, Thompson prevaricated.

"In each market it's a bit different, between partner and site; in some instances a site's been identified and in some instances it hasn't. It's nearly at that cut-off point. Stay tuned..."

Thompson was less guarded about the status of Infiniti within the Nissan head office in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong.

"All is going really well, as far as the preparation — and we've now filled out the entire Infiniti team, so we've got all hands on deck."

Plainly an adjunct to that preparation, cars have been seen on local roads; so what are they doing here?

"There's been a lot of reasons;" Thompson replied. "Heavy, heavy investment into research — customer clinics and testing... Also it's been now six months of work we've been doing with potential partners and dealers; it's getting them an appreciation of the product — and then also a bit of local testing.

"We thought it was important — even though they're not our specced cars — to bring them in and get people to be able to feel and touch and understand what they'd be investing in, especially the partners. We're getting really good feedback out of the research work; we didn't think we could get as much value out of it without having cars...

"It's a huge activity for us and everything's on track. It's really exciting for the entire Nissan family to have what will soon be the birth of a new brand."

When the brand's products go on sale locally, they'll bring levels of safety equipment normally associated with high-end European brands. These include AVM (Around-View Monitoring) and Lane Departure Warning, to name just two.

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...