Infiniti’s often discussed future premium compact model will not be built at Magna-Steyr, but “in-house in a European production facility,” Infiniti says in an emailed statement. The car will still “share a platform developed with Mercedes.”
The car was created as part of the partnership between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler. Infiniti had been looking into third party production at Magna Steyr, but decided to bring production in house. With a lot of capacities sitting idle in Europe, this is a prudent and expected move.
Infiniti says that all design, engineering and development work continues on schedule. It will announce a production location and more product details closer to the start of production. The “European facility” does not necessarily mean one of the Renault-Nissan empire, it could also be a Daimler plant. By the same token, the sister Mercedes could also be built at a Renault-Nissan plant. Stay tuned.
Any idea what sort of market share Infiniti has in Europe? My assumption is that it is infinitesimal (Infiniti not the Nissan part).
It seems counter-intuitive to build a luxury Japanese model in high cost Europe if there is no real market there for the brand.
I agree with this. Also, I’d be wary of a Daimler partnership. I trust Ghosn, though, he knows what he’s doing. I think that working with Mercedes could have the potential to help nissan boost the prestige of the infiniti brand..
My understanding is that the Nissan G will also be sharing a platform with the Mercedes C-class. Does that mean that the G will diverge from the Skyline or that the V37 Skyline is a C-class platform?
At least Infiniti is taking the new IPL more seriously — supposedly looking for north of 500 hp out of a twin-turbo 6.
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I really like that concept image, its something I would consider leasing.
You can just right click and save image. No need to lease the image.
History is bound to repeat itself. Remember the merger of equals that ended up with Daimler bleeding Chrysler dry?
This is why I have a profound hate of Daimler. Nissan/Infiniti didn’t need Benz for anything so why team up with a DIRECT competitor?
Could those be nascent Dagmars poking out alongside the area formerly known as Grill? Need rubber cones.
That car looks like Lighting McQueen’s Japanese mistress.
Hahaha……. that front end is cartoonish. Infiniti used to design good looking cars but now they are just downright weird and ugly.
Looks more like the bad-guy sharks from Pixar. at least the lights
First Lexus goes with the “angry” grille, and now Infiniti.
What’s with these design cues cribbed from a 1961 Plymouth?
Mongolion idiocy.
Ugh! Gawd that thing is hideous. The obvious attempt at cloning a Bimmer with those bird-of-prey headlights and flowing lines from the front fenders to the rear bussel, is near dead-on M4. Howver, instead of the M4s Joe Camel-esque nose, the Infiniti trades it for Mr. Owl’s from the campy Tootsie-Pop commericial.
Prognosis? Euthanise quietly by holding a pillow over its mouth til it stops breathing; telling the country Doctor it passed away in its sleep.