Nissan is considering introducing its US-only Infiniti luxury brand to Japan and Europe as part of its forthcoming three-year plan, the Financial Times reported Thursday on its Web site, according to Dow Jones.
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Carlos Ghosn, chief executive, reportedly said the expansion of the luxury marque outside the US could be included in the successor to the “Nissan 180” turnround plan due to finish in April 2005.
Dow Jones said the move follows the decision by Toyota this year to rebrand its luxury models in Japan under the Lexus badge it already uses in the US and Europe.
“Post-Nissan 180 may very well incorporate Infiniti going outside the US,” Ghosn has reportedly said.
According to Dow Jones, other executives said Japan and Europe were both being discussed as possible destinations for the upmarket brand. The company had previously said it would only launch in Europe once it had access to a large diesel engine, likely to come from Renault, the report noted.
The report said expansion of Infiniti outside its home base in the US would have been unthinkable a few years ago, when it was struggling in the shadow of Lexus, but sales in the past two years have grown dramatically and 40% more vehicles were sold under the brand in the six months to September than the same period last year.
“The first years of Infiniti were not very successful,” Ghosn reportedly said, but he added that this year and the next “are going to be great years” for the brand.
