I have been testing an all-wheel-drive 2016 Infiniti Q50 for several days. It is a lovely sedan and $8,000 less expensive than a uniformly equipped 2016 Mercedes-Benz C300 4MATIC – the best-selling model in the segment.
Infiniti’s Q50 is a terrific automobile, but it’s dramatically out-sold by all the German models against which it competes.
Good as the Q50 is, last year Canadians bought about 2.5 times as many C-Class cars. It was a similar story with BMW’s 3-Series. Audi’s A4 also out-sold the Q50 by a wide margin. Against the big German guns, Infiniti’s sleek, entertaining, safe, reliable and technologically advanced Q50 is a laggard.
Don’t blame the car; it’s the brand. I don’t want to drag too many numbers into this, but when it comes to sales, they’re startling. Last year, as DesRosiers Automotive Consultants reports, Canadians bought about four times more Mercedes-brand vehicles than Infinitis. BMW out-sold Infiniti 3.5:1, and Audi about 2.5:1.
Infiniti types hope the QX30 is a massive success. Sales of smaller luxury vehicles certainly are booming.
Sure, Infiniti’s sales jumped 10.0 per cent last year. But the actual numbers are staggering: 43,810 Canadians bought a Mercedes and only 11,321 went Infiniti – even after Infiniti’s massive investments in design, technology and brand-building through Formula 1 and elsewhere.
Infiniti types argue that moving the Infiniti head office to Hong Kong from Yokohama, Japan in 2012 has sparked creativity and fostered independence from parent Nissan. And yes, global sales did jump 16 per cent last year, to 215,250. But BMW, Mercedes and Audi were in the 2.0 million-range. Infiniti is a luxury pipsqueak.
The big hope at Infiniti is that the QX30 crossover in Canada and the U.S. (sold as the Q30 hatchback in other markets) will be a sensation. It might. Small luxury vehicles are all the rage in Canada: compact luxury car sales are up 25 per cent, compact SUV sales up nearly 20 per cent. The hybrid-like QX30 will give Infiniti dealers something to rival Mercedes’ CLA, B-Class and GLA.
The Mercedes-Benz GLA shares its platform and powertrain with the QX30.
Still, Infiniti has been in Canada since 1990 and the United States since 1989. After two and a half decades, you’d think Infiniti would be well established, a serious luxury player. It’s not, at least not yet. Yes, it’s incredibly tough to establish a new premium brand, but Infiniti is NOT new, just unfulfilled.
More worrisome, Infiniti remains unable to grow its brand all by itself. The QX30, for instance, rides on the Mercedes-Benz architecture and powertrain (2.0-litre turbo four, 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox) that underpin the GLA and CLA. This development is part of a larger Nissan-Renault tie-up with Daimler. The QX30, CLA and GLA are expected to be built in a new joint venture plant in Mexico.
The driver’s view of the QX30.
Marketing and finance people often say that buyers don’t care what’s under the skin of a car, that architectures and engines can be shared across brands and even among automakers. Usually they’re wrong.
Sharing the bits and pieces of the Mercedes premium brand likely won’t hurt Infiniti, but it doesn’t establish Infiniti’s independence either – though the cost-savings surely appeal to the notoriously penny-pinching Carlos Ghosn, CEO of the Renault Nissan Alliance.
That said, premium car buyers do their research. Most QX30 buyers will know they’re getting vehicles underpinned by a Mercedes connection. Some will conclude: Why not just buy the Merc?
The QX30 cabin design is quite rich.
Given that Infiniti remains tiny compared to the Germans, it makes financial sense to stretch development dollars with joint ventures. And all Infinitis will have their own racy designs and features unique to the brand.
However, Infiniti distributors and dealers will need to find ways to make a customer experience unique and separate from Merc. That will be particularly tough in Canada, where Mercedes-Benz has been throwing piles of money at new dealership developments.
If nothing else, give credit to Infiniti boss Roland Krueger, who jumped ship from BMW. He’s reigned in the braggadocio of previous Infiniti bosses – who predicted global sales of 500,000 by next year. Oops.
Here’s a look at the GLA’s cockpit, for comparison.
As you consider the QX30, here’s how to measure Infiniti: Do dealers take a customer-centric approach? Are the designs distinctive, even daring? Is the technology class-leading? And do the vehicles deliver tremendous value?
Krueger says those are the things for which Infiniti stands. Let’s take him at his word and mark up the scoresheet accordingly. If the scores are good enough, perhaps Infiniti the brand will one day live up to a quarter century of hype and promise.
I have been testing an all-wheel-drive 2016 Infiniti Q50 for several days. It is a lovely sedan and $8,000 less expensive than a uniformly equipped 2016 Mercedes-Benz C300 4MATIC – the best-selling model in the segment.
Infiniti’s Q50 is a terrific automobile, but it’s dramatically out-sold by all the German models against which it competes.
Good as the Q50 is, last year Canadians bought about 2.5 times as many C-Class cars. It was a similar story with BMW’s 3-Series. Audi’s A4 also out-sold the Q50 by a wide margin. Against the big German guns, Infiniti’s sleek, entertaining, safe, reliable and technologically advanced Q50 is a laggard.
Don’t blame the car; it’s the brand. I don’t want to drag too many numbers into this, but when it comes to sales, they’re startling. Last year, as DesRosiers Automotive Consultants reports, Canadians bought about four times more Mercedes-brand vehicles than Infinitis. BMW out-sold Infiniti 3.5:1, and Audi about 2.5:1.
Infiniti types hope the QX30 is a massive success. Sales of smaller luxury vehicles certainly are booming.
Sure, Infiniti’s sales jumped 10.0 per cent last year. But the actual numbers are staggering: 43,810 Canadians bought a Mercedes and only 11,321 went Infiniti – even after Infiniti’s massive investments in design, technology and brand-building through Formula 1 and elsewhere.
Infiniti types argue that moving the Infiniti head office to Hong Kong from Yokohama, Japan in 2012 has sparked creativity and fostered independence from parent Nissan. And yes, global sales did jump 16 per cent last year, to 215,250. But BMW, Mercedes and Audi were in the 2.0 million-range. Infiniti is a luxury pipsqueak.
The big hope at Infiniti is that the QX30 crossover in Canada and the U.S. (sold as the Q30 hatchback in other markets) will be a sensation. It might. Small luxury vehicles are all the rage in Canada: compact luxury car sales are up 25 per cent, compact SUV sales up nearly 20 per cent. The hybrid-like QX30 will give Infiniti dealers something to rival Mercedes’ CLA, B-Class and GLA.
The Mercedes-Benz GLA shares its platform and powertrain with the QX30.
Still, Infiniti has been in Canada since 1990 and the United States since 1989. After two and a half decades, you’d think Infiniti would be well established, a serious luxury player. It’s not, at least not yet. Yes, it’s incredibly tough to establish a new premium brand, but Infiniti is NOT new, just unfulfilled.
More worrisome, Infiniti remains unable to grow its brand all by itself. The QX30, for instance, rides on the Mercedes-Benz architecture and powertrain (2.0-litre turbo four, 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox) that underpin the GLA and CLA. This development is part of a larger Nissan-Renault tie-up with Daimler. The QX30, CLA and GLA are expected to be built in a new joint venture plant in Mexico.
The driver’s view of the QX30.
Marketing and finance people often say that buyers don’t care what’s under the skin of a car, that architectures and engines can be shared across brands and even among automakers. Usually they’re wrong.
Sharing the bits and pieces of the Mercedes premium brand likely won’t hurt Infiniti, but it doesn’t establish Infiniti’s independence either – though the cost-savings surely appeal to the notoriously penny-pinching Carlos Ghosn, CEO of the Renault Nissan Alliance.
That said, premium car buyers do their research. Most QX30 buyers will know they’re getting vehicles underpinned by a Mercedes connection. Some will conclude: Why not just buy the Merc?
The QX30 cabin design is quite rich.
Given that Infiniti remains tiny compared to the Germans, it makes financial sense to stretch development dollars with joint ventures. And all Infinitis will have their own racy designs and features unique to the brand.
However, Infiniti distributors and dealers will need to find ways to make a customer experience unique and separate from Merc. That will be particularly tough in Canada, where Mercedes-Benz has been throwing piles of money at new dealership developments.
If nothing else, give credit to Infiniti boss Roland Krueger, who jumped ship from BMW. He’s reigned in the braggadocio of previous Infiniti bosses – who predicted global sales of 500,000 by next year. Oops.
Here’s a look at the GLA’s cockpit, for comparison.
As you consider the QX30, here’s how to measure Infiniti: Do dealers take a customer-centric approach? Are the designs distinctive, even daring? Is the technology class-leading? And do the vehicles deliver tremendous value?
Krueger says those are the things for which Infiniti stands. Let’s take him at his word and mark up the scoresheet accordingly. If the scores are good enough, perhaps Infiniti the brand will one day live up to a quarter century of hype and promise.
About the Author / Jeremy Cato
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