Infiniti won't come to Oz

NISSAN Australia says it has no plan to re-introduce its premium Infiniti brand locally, even though Inifinti’s pending UK introduction would see the prestige division produce its cars in right-hand-drive.

“We have no plans,” said Nissan Australia marketing manager Ross Booth.

“There is more opportunity from a product perspective, because of right-hand-drive for the UK, but we don’t have any plans,” he said.

Nissan Australia has not done a business case on the reintroduction of the Infiniti brand in Australia.

“It is hard to launch a new brand in Australia. It will be interesting to see how Cadillac goes,” Mr Booth said.

Infiniti, which had previously been a US-only brand, was recently introduced in South Korea and is about to be launched in Russia and Europe.

Senior global Nissan executives have previously stated that it was more about when Infiniti would be introduced in Australia rather than if, but the company appears to have gone cold on the prospect.

The news that Infiniti is not coming back here any time soon comes after Honda Asia and Oceania regional operations managing director Fumihiko Ike told GoAuto earlier this month that Acura would not be coming to Australia.

While Acura has never been sold in Australia, Infiniti was sold here from 1993 until 1997, when poor sales led to the brand’s withdrawal.

Nissan, which announced it would introduce the GT-R here next April at $148,800, has also committed to sell the next-generation Murano crossover wagon in Australia from next February.

The company was seriously considering dumping the boldly-styled all-wheel-drive wagon from the line-up given its average monthly sales last year stood at just 129.

It decided the next-generation model would be significantly better and, if marketed properly, could do far better than the previous model.

Left: New Nissan Murano.



“The Murano hasn’t been as successful, from a sales perspective, as we would have liked. We believe this one will be,” Mr Booth said.

“There is a market for a stylish, luxury SUV.” The new Murano has potentially polarizing styling, thanks largely to a unique grille and front bumper, but Mr Booth said that the last thing most people want is to drive something that looks bland.

“It is different and that’s what people want. They don’t want to be driving something that looks the same as everything else,” he said.

Mr Booth said he was looking at the way the last Murano was marketed to learn any lessons and will also examine the way the new model is being launched in the US.

He is confident the model will sell strongly and initial research suggests it will be popular.

“We have researched it - it has researched extremely well,” he said.

The new Murano is based on the new Nissan-Renault global D platform. It runs a revised 3.5-litre V6 and a new CVT automatic.

Nissan Australia has decided to take a fully loaded Murano model complete with leather trim, satellite-navigation, a powered tailgate that opens and closes at the touch of a button and an automatic folding rear seat feature.

“The original Murano tried to have that sports-type feel, but this is much more luxurious,” Mr Booth said.

Nissan is yet to decide if a mid-spec model will be added to the Murano line-up.

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