Nissan Motor’s Infiniti said it may set up business in Japan within three years as the luxury unit seeks to build its brand.
“My personal expectation is that we should be able to introduce Infiniti formally to the Japanese market no later than 2017,” Infiniti president Johan de Nysschen said in an interview on Friday in Hong Kong, where the premium carmaker is based. “The brand needs to be there, and we need to have a very clear global footprint.”
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| The Nissan Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge |
While Infiniti already sells the storied Skyline ― also known as the Q50 ― in Japan, it does so through Nissan. De Nysschen, formerly head of Volkswagen Group’s Audi business in the U.S., is pushing for Infiniti to have its own network of dealers as he seeks to emulate the success of his former employer by making Infiniti more autonomous from its Japanese parent.
Separately, de Nysschen forecast global deliveries for Infiniti, which has ambitions to capture 10 percent of the world premium market by 2020, will rise more than 10 percent to a record 200,000 units in the fiscal year ending March as sales in China jump at least 75 percent to more than 30,000 units.
Infiniti is counting on further gains in China next year as it begins building the long-wheelbase versions of the Q50 sedan and QX50 crossover ― tailored for Chinese taste ― in 2014 at Nissan’s Xiangyang plant in central China. (Bloomberg)
