Infiniti was first introduced to the American public in November 1989. Nissan’s luxury car division has dealerships in various countries around the world and has more than 230 dealerships.
Surprisingly, at first, the Infiniti brand was poorly received in the United States. That may be partly due to an unusual advertising approach. The initial marketing idea was to rely on a Zen-influenced advertising concept. All commercials produced featured beautiful nature themes that focused on tranquility. As relaxing as the commercials may have been, they were all missing one crucial thing: vehicle photos. This turned out not to be a good idea when trying to introduce a new line of cars to the American population. It is quite difficult to generate brand recognition when no brand is displayed. The venues were eventually removed and replaced with commercials showing the vehicles. This, combined with several award-winning models, finally put Infiniti on the map of the luxury car division.
The Q45 opens the way to Infiniti. The vehicle had many desirable features and a top-of-the-line engine at the time. Some of the award-winning features include the 278-hp V8 engine, all-wheel steering, and luxury interior options.
For a while, it seemed that Infiniti would have no problem competing against Acura, Lexus, BMW, or Audi. However, the M30, introduced in 1990, was never able to keep up. There were many reasons for this, however some of the most prominent include the various lake in its engine and transmission. Only one engine was offered with the vehicle, which was the 162-horsepower Nissan VG30E V6 3000 and only one transmission, the Nissan RE 4R01A 4-speed automatic. Marketed as a two-door sports coupe, this engine / transmission combination offered nowhere near the power that consumers in this market were looking for. The M30 was never a success and was discontinued by Infiniti after just 3 years.
Infiniti’s greatest success during the 1990s was the introduction of its luxury SUV, the QX4. Virtually no one else on the market besides Land Rover had something like the QX4, which for the first time left Acura and other luxury automakers scrambling to catch up. The QX4 was built on a truck bed and offered the ability to traverse road conditions in relative luxury.
By 2000, Infiniti was losing a lot of ground to the competition and teetering on the brink of extinction. The company was able to redefine its goals and finally find a winner. It was the introduction of the G35 that ultimately brought Infiniti to the top. The sports sedan was very well received and was named 2003 Motor Trend Car of the Year. Its American version, the FX35 / 45 crossover, was equally successful. Ultimately, Infiniti had come up with a winning combination: the handling of an off-road capable sports car.
With its goals redefined and its focus on what consumers want in a luxury vehicle, Infiniti appears to have a bright future ahead of it.
