Infiniti may need two years before growing in Europe

By CARSIFU | 28 September 2012
PARIS: Nissan's Infiniti brand expects it could take two years before it can carve out a meaningful slice of the European premium car market, and even then can do so only with the help of small, fuel-efficient engines from Daimler.



"We will get into the game once we have an extended model line up, starting with four cylinder diesel and petrol engines and also new products in new segments," said Bernard Loire, Vice President of Infiniti Europe, Middle East, India and Africa, in an interview on Thursday.



Currently Infiniti competes mainly at the upper end of the market, since it only has access to larger, thirstier V6 and V8 engines. As a result sales in western Europe for the newcomer were just around 4,000 cars in a premium car market of 2.5 million vehicles.



"We believe that once we get the product - the four cylinder engines, for example - we will be in expansion mode," he said on the sidelines of the Paris auto show.



Not only is Daimler's Mercedes-Benz luxury brand supplying Infiniti with the smaller powertrains, it is also providing the front-wheel-drive architecture for an upcoming premium compact that will be equipped with combustion engines and likely built in Europe.



"This is going to be for Infiniti the volume maker and probably the first visible model in the European market place," Loire said, declining to say when production would begin since he has not decided on the exact manufacturing plant yet.



"This car is probably going to reach between 40-50 thousand units per year altogether (including Russia and exports from Europe)," he said. "We believe it is in this magnitude."



Mercedes can hope to supply even more four-cylinder engines, since Loire said he will roll out these smaller powertrains across large and small models in the range.



There are however limits to the partnership, he added: "We are not thinking though that one day all the engines will be common between Mercedes and Infiniti, neither of the companies will have an interest in that."



Infiniti also plans to launch a compact using proprietary battery electric vehicle technology which uses entirely different underpinnings from the Mercedes-based car.



Loire, who wants Infiniti to marry the traits of service-oriented Japanese premium rival Lexus and the performance-based German luxury brands, also wants to expand the range to enter new segments.



However, this would not be into the small car segment currently occupied by cars like the Audi A1 but would rather be more of a "halo product" at the other end of the spectrum.



"I am sure it won't be a sedan, we are not going to produce a me-too competitor to the 7 Series or S-Class, since it would be set for failure," he said, explaining that the two flagships have been established for generations.



"If we go in that direction, we're going to need a product which is different. The trend over the last decade was four seat coupes like the (Mercedes) CLS - we need to think of what the trend will be for the next decade," he said.