Infiniti to accelerate market growth in region

This year, Infiniti is aiming to surpass this performance and wrest market share from its competitors, its managing director for the Middle East said.

Dubai — Luxury vehicle manufacturer Infiniti launched its new Q70 sedan in the Middle East in Dubai on Tuesday, underlining its aim of speeding up its market share in the region with top-line offerings for demanding consumers.

The Hong Kong-headquartered company — a division of Japan’s Nissan Motor — experienced a very successful 2014 with over 7,500 vehicles sold in the region, particularly in the GCC — a growth of 27 per cent over 2014.

This year, Infiniti is aiming to surpass this performance and wrest market share from its competitors, its managing director for the Middle East said.

“With a good growth rate and a very stable business environment, we are very much counting on another success story in 2015,” Juergen Schmitz told Khaleej Times after the media briefing.

The Middle East, Schmitz says, is Infiniti’s third-largest market after the United States and Canada. The region’s ascension to that spot is proof of its strong performance and importance to its overall business, especially taking into consideration that the brand was introduced into those North American a longer time ago.

The 2016 Infiniti Q70 is available in Excellence and Luxury Grade with a premium body design, as well as an alternative Sport Grade with a sport body design. It is equipped with a 3.7-litre V6 engine, rated at 329hp at 7,000rpm and 363Nm of torque. It is also available with a 5.6-litre V-8 engine that delivers 402hp at 6,000rpm at 550Nm of torque.

Latest safety features include Predictive Forward Collision Warning, which anticipates the speed and distance of two vehicles in front to ensure that should an emergency arise, the vehicle comes to a safe stop. It also has Intelligent Cruise Control and Distance Control Assist, which “take the stress out of driving so the driver can arrive at the destination relaxed”.

Another first is the Around View Monitoring System, which shows a bird’s-eye view of the vehicle in relation to parking lines. The system includes Moving Object Detection and Backup Collision Intervention that alerts the driver of moving objects. Also, the Lane Departure Warning and Lane Departure Prevention systems help keep the Q70 from unintentionally drifting into an adjacent lane in case the driver is distracted.

The 2016 Infiniti Q70 is now available in the UAE and starts at Dh169,000.

All the offerings on the Q70 are suited to the tastes of customers especially here in the Middle East, who are known to patronise high-end products.

“It’s getting more important that you give the customer the right experience,” Schmitz said. “We are talking about a purchase with a substantial amount of money; the customber can expect to be treated exceptionally if you are spending [a lot]... and now we have a very high standard in treating our customers.”

Two ‘fully-new’ models

Schmitz also confirmed that two “fully-new” Infiniti vehicles are arriving within the next 24 months.

The Q30 will be the company’s first vehicle to be manufactured in Europe, and production will begin towards the end of 2015. On the other hand, the Q60 — a coupe version of the Q70 — will come into its showrooms in 2016.

With these new cars, Infiniti will “go into segments it has never been before, with the aim of pushing the brand in all segments”, Schmitz pointed out.

“We are challenging the status quo of the market,” he added. “You may have very demanding customers... but they are very accessible if you have convincing arguments for the products that you offer.”

— alvin@khaleejtimes.com