1
NEWS
Infiniti 'easy to chop'
But incoming boss declares Nissan's luxury brand is here for the long haulNew Nissan Australia boss Richard Emery has reaffirmed the company's commitment to its struggling Infiniti luxury division, despite admitting there is a case for shutting it down.
"It would be very easy for an incoming CEO to give it the chop how it looks on paper," Emery told motoring.com.au. "But you have to hang in there with the brand, because what they have got coming, what it can offer, is worth hanging in there for."
Emery joined Nissan as managing director and CEO on April 1 from Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific where he served for more than five years as sales manager in a period of strong local growth for one of the world's foremost luxury nameplates.
That means he watched on with interest as Infiniti launched here in an intentionally low-key way in August 2012 with two aged models lines and dealers in Sydney and Brisbane – a Melbourne dealer was added months later.
Its founding general manager in Australia departed a little over a year later after launch and the range went through a sizeable price cut around the same time.
Since then Infiniti global boss Johan de Nysschen has admitted the competitiveness of the Australian market was "underestimated" and that current sales levels are "unsustainable". That latter comment refers to the sale of just 304 Infinitis here in 2013.
The new Q50 medium sedan was launched last February, providing an opportunity for sales growth. A 2.0-litre turbo-petrol version is still to come this year, but beyond that no all-new models are due until the Q30 small car arrives in 2016.
Most of the Infiniti range has recently gone through a name change in line with a new global nomenclature policy, while dealer representation in Adelaide or Perth has still not been added.
Benefiting from the launch of the Q50, Infiniti sales are up 85.3 per cent year-on-year to end of April, although the 126 total sales is tiny compared to the likes of heavyweights Benz (9355), BMW (6810) and Audi (6276). Perhaps more relevantly, Lexus has sold 2222 vehicles so far this year, Volvo 1611 and Jaguar 351.
"I wouldn't have probably gone about launching Infiniti the way they did, but that doesn't diminish the opportunity," said Emery. "What it does mean, because it has had such a slow burn at the beginning, is we have to be really careful how we start it back up again."
Emery said there were some immediate issues relating to the launch that could be addressed, some of which would be visible to the public and some not.
He declined to be specific on what they were but did admit that growing the network was a priority.
"We are working on that. Clearly you have to have a national footprint if you are going to be a growing brand, but also we have to be very careful we do it in a fashion that makes sense for the business investors that are involved. So at the moment it's right, but there are clearly some other markets we need to get stuck into."
Emery says Infiniti can't sit on its hand waiting for future product. He believes there is more potential in the QX50 cross-over and is impressed by the Q50.
"There is future product yes but we have to make better use of what we have now... I just think we need to hang in there, we need to show the customers and dealers we are in there for the long haul."
Infiniti's arrival in Australia was driven by a plan to grow the brand globally, redirecting it from its primarily North American focus.
Under De Nysschen it is embarking on a wide-ranging product expansion, with a high-performance Eau Rouge version of the Q50 being tested. But a slew of vehicles, some co-developed with Mercedes-Benz and others stand alone, are in the pipeline.
Share this article
Written byBruce Newton
See all articlesOur team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Stay up to dateBecome a carsales member and get the latest news, reviews and advice straight to your inbox.
Subscribe todayRelated articles
Disclaimer
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
Contact
Advertise with us
International marketplaces
Scan to download the carsales app
Want more info? Here’s our app landing page
App Store and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo
are trademarks of Google LLC.