Carl Bayliss recently returned to his homeland after a decade in Hong Kong. He is the new country manager for Infiniti UK, responsible for all business activities including Sales, Marketing and Network Development.
Sales were up 93% in 2014, with 746 registrations but still, a brand as small as Aston Martin outsold Infiniti. December was good (79 cars, +200%) but there was a dip in January (61 sales, -8.0%). Why is it taking so long for the brand to succeed?
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We’re ‘super-niche’. It’s only been in the last year that we’ve had something which is representative of a European model, which is the Q50. The CO2 numbers are very good, the company car tax numbers are also very good – bear in mind that we have a high percentage of corporate customers in the UK.
When we launched in the UK, we had models with big engines but then we added a 3.0-litre diesel, and we saw an uptick in sales. Going forward, when we launch the Q30 we’ll have the right engine derivatives, but already we have four-cylinder diesel and turbo petrol engines in a couple of models.
From a brand awareness perspective, we have very low awareness in the UK. This has been the biggest issue. Everybody thinks “that’s an interesting car” but they have to chase it down the road to see what it is. Even then, the provenance of the Infiniti brand is not known.
We now have various initiatives such as our partnership with Westfield [stores and displays in two of London’s largest shopping centres], and our partnership in Formula 1 which will drive awareness.
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By GlobalDataNew models are coming later this year, so what’s your goal – a doubling of sales?
Yes.
Presuming Q30 and QX30 have strong launches in 2015 and 2016; where would you like sales to be at the end of 2016?
It’s fair to assume that we could probably double again. As our aspirations grow, and awareness grows, our product range will support that. We talk about one full year of Q50 now [2015], another year when this car will be at the optimum part of its life cycle, Q30 of course, and from January 1st this year we have the new [facelifted] Q70. You have seen the Q60 Concept at Detroit so that’s also coming within the next two years.
Who sets the UK market’s sales targets?
We have a global plan and that comes from Hong Kong. Of course that’s ratified and supported by the European office in Switzerland.
And do you report to the president of Infiniti Europe or directly into [Infiniti president] Roland Krüger in Hong Kong?
I report into our West Europe office.
Why is Europe broken into regions? Because of Russia?
Yes. We have a number of offices within Europe – east and west, and from a subdivision point we have north and south as well. EMEA represents nearly 30 markets so there needs to be tailoring to specific market conditions.
Before he left Nissan, Andy Palmer said Sunderland would produce 60,000 units a year of the Q30. Is that still the plan, and what volume do you see the UK taking?
We’re still in the planning phase so I don’t have specific numbers to share with you. In terms of production, though, Europe will take half of the total volume.
How soon after Sunderland starts building the Q30 will it add the QX30?
We’ll launch the concept of QX30 [at Geneva in March] and then we’ll determine the timeframe of a QX derivative of Q30.
QX30 would be a rival for the Audi Q3 and Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class?
Yes, that’s right.
There’s now a few hybrids in the model range but where are the EVs and PHEVs?
In the early days of our previous president [Johan de Nysschen] it was decided to hold off on EV development. That was for a number of reasons. One was the lack of a recharging infrastructure, but that’s now improved. The Nissan Leaf is the biggest selling electric vehicle in the world, we’ve seen Tesla do a great job banging the drum for EVs, but from an Infiniti standpoint, we have other key priorities for the business.
You will have seen our thinking with the Q60 Concept, the Q50 Eau Rouge, Q80 Inspiration. Obviously with Roland Krüger being on board now, he’ll address what we’re doing with our performance cars line and what we’re doing with EVs.
Daimler’s MFA architecture has PHEV capability so could you see a Q30 or QX30 plug-in hybrid?
I don’t have specific information on that.
The first FX was replaced after five years but its successor the QX70 is almost seven, and the Q60 will be eight or nine years old when it’s replaced and QX50 will be close to ten when its successor arrives in 2017. Why such long life cycles?
In terms of bringing new models to market, you’ll see the Q60, the Q30, and some others. What I would call the iconic products such as the QX70, these can sustain long cycles, and in the US we also have the G sedan, which became the Q40.
What would be the impact on Infiniti Europe’s business plan if the UK leaves the EU?
That’s a very good question but I don’t see that possibility having a major impact on us. After all, for decades, we’ve been building cars in Japan, one of the most expensive markets, and selling them in the US, one of the most price sensitive markets.
Let’s fast forward to a year’s time. How will you know if you’ve been successful?
At the moment, we have 10 retailers and we’ll expand to 13 in 2015, but there are plans to eventually grow to 25. Already, the UK is in Infiniti’s top ten markets, and in Europe it’s in the top three along with France and Germany.
We want to double the number of sales, and from a qualitative standpoint we want to be sure that we use the opportunity presented by the Q30 to improve even further on where we are now. Remember, our brand has only been in Europe since 2008 and in the UK we didn’t launch until 2009. We intend to stay a top ten market and the Q30 will be a key part of that.
