Taking Diesel Into Infiniti

Nissan’s alleged premium brand Infiniti is going to the dark side…well, the less refined side. The Auto Channel reports that Infiniti are going to put a newly developed diesel power train (produced in grand alliance with Renault) into their vehicles for the European market. They are aiming to put this oil burner into the EX and FX CUV’s, and later into the M saloon. (Which is not a new watering hole. It’s what the Americans would call a sedan. Which is a town in France. Or in Australia. Or in Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota and West Virginia. You figure it out. ED)

Infiniti has been in Europe for less than a year. Jim Wright, Vice President of Infiniti Europe, compensates lack of experience with lack of shame, and with a PR-writer prone to flowery prose (always a dead give-away for wannabe-luxury:) “The sales success enjoyed by Infiniti in Europe against a backdrop of financial uncertainty proves the cars’ appeal to a discerning audience. We have established Infiniti as the luxury performance brand thanks in part to the remarkable multi-award winning VQ petrol engine that powers most of the models in the range.” (And he didn’t refer to a kitchen stove. ED)

The rationale behind this move is obvious. To grow in Europe, you have to think European. What is common to all European luxury marques? (Except for two-bit players such as Bugatti or Rolls …) A good line of diesel vehicles. A must-have in Europe, despite American propaganda of falling market shares.

Wright said Infiniti had known that all along: “We were aware from the outset, however, that for Infiniti to offer a complete range a powerful diesel engine was a must, especially in the European premium SUV market where diesel represents the bulk of sector sales. Although we did investigate the possibility of adapting an existing large capacity diesel for Infiniti, we quickly established that nothing on the market met our exacting requirements. We needed an engine that delivered not just stunning performance but exemplary refinement too. For that reason, with the Alliance we decided to develop our own engine, a performance diesel worthy of the Infiniti badge.” (Seemingly, stilted sentences are as essential to the target group as Stilton cheese.)

Worthy it may be of the Infiniti badge, but I have a funny feeling it won’t be worthy of American customers, who, according to Euro trash lore, think diesel is something you buy in a truck stop. Or from your friendly illicit substance vendor.

Carkeys.co.uk gives us the low-down on the diesel engine’s figures. The engine will aim to churn out 235 BHP. The diesel engine in the Infiniti EX will give a 0-62mph time of 7.9 seconds and a combined fuel economy of 33.6mpg. The diesel engine in the Infiniti FX will aim to give a 0-62mph time of 8.3 seconds and a combined fuel economy of 31.4mpg. “Such is the refinement of the new diesel engine,” Infiniti’s Wright waxes poetic propulsion prose, “that the only way a driver will know what’s under the bonnet is by looking at the rev counter and seeing where the red line falls.” Particular drivers can sniff at the exhaust for diesel particulate. Gesundheit.