Nissan to bring it’s luxury marque Infiniti to India: Breaking on ICB!

2011 Nissan Infiniti M-Sedan

Nissan India is pretty gung ho about it’s expansion plans and will bring in it’s range of luxury sedans and SUVs through the Infiniti brand. While the car maker has been selling low end cars like the Micra in India, it clearly appears to be looking to a bigger player in the Indian luxury market although it’s current offerings like the Teana Sedan and the X-Trail SUV aren’t doing too well in India.

It aims to change this by launching a range of high end Sedans and SUVs to take on the likes of the Beemers and Mercs of this world sometime in late 2011 or early 2012. Globally, Nissan sells the Infiniti M Sedan, the Infiniti EX Premium Crossover SUV and the Infiniti FX Crossover SUV. All these cars come with a range of petrol and diesel engines and even feature hybrid engine options.

2011 Nissan FX Crossover SUV

The Infiniti M Sedan will take on the likes of the Mercedes Benz E-Class, the Audi A6, the BMW 5 Series Sedan and the Volvo S80 Sedan. a three liter, 240bhp-500 Nm Turbo Diesel V6 Engine and a 330 Bhp, 3.6 Liter V6 Petrol engine could be offered to Indian customers when this car does see an Indian launch. Transmission option will be a seven speed semi automatic tranny.

Apart from the Infiniti M Sedan, the Infinity FX Crossover SUV which is a Crossover SUV to take on the likes of the Volvo XC90 and the Porsche Cayenne is the other model which Nissan India could bring into the country with petrol and diesel engine options. Along with this Crossover SUV, the smaller Infinity EX could also make it to the country in due course of time.

2011 Nissan EX Crossover SUV

All said, Nissan India seems to be betting on the high growth Indian luxury car segment to drive future Nissan sales through it’s Infiniti Brand. While it would certainly mean more choice for the discerning customer in the Indian car market, Nissan India will have it’s task cut out if it ever hopes to make a proper splash in the Indian luxury car segment.

This as, Nissan, as a luxury brand is virtually unknown in India and the exact same goes with the Infiniti range of luxury cars and SUVs. So, Nissan India will certainly have to do some real brand building to ensure that Indians know about Brand Infiniti, which faces the daunting task of taking on established and very well known brands like Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi in India. A great start would be to price the Infiniti range at a cost which undercuts it’s rivals so that the Infiniti range get’s a fair shot.