Infiniti to launch with two dealers

Nissan's luxury brand, Infiniti, will have a dealership in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley with AP Eagers and another in East Sydney with Suttons, but has announced that a deal with Penfolds in Melbourne has fallen through.

However, the Sydney dealer will not open its showroom for two more weeks while the Brisbane showroom will open in seven weeks. Infiniti Australia general manager Kevin Snell said a new Melbourne dealer would be announced in the next three to four weeks with a showroom open by Christmas.

He was speaking last week at the Sunshine Coast media launch of the M sedan ($85,900-$99,900) and FX SUV ($83,900-$114,900). Snell said they were not hampered by the lack of dealers or showrooms. He said the brand had a comprehensive data base from their website and public displays of the cars at the Formula One in Melbourne and Cirque de Soleil events around the country.

Snell also confirmed they would have their new models plus two coming models the G Coupe and Convertible at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney in October. “In the past six months more than 10,000 people have visited the website and we collected more than 200 expressions of interest at the F1 in February,” Snell said.

“Our marketing starts next week and we'll have a heavy emphasis on the FX. “We expect to make (dealer) appointments in Perth and Adelaide in the next six months.” Infiniti Australia managing director and CEO Bill Peffer said the Australian market was one of the most crowded in the world with 65 brands. “We offer a new choice for customers that don't follow the rest of the crowd,” he said.

“First we have to get the brand awareness established. We're not pushing for volume; we want to establish the brand.” Peffer said Infiniti would be a separate entity to Nissan, but would access the Nissan financial service for loans. “That will be a huge advantage for us,” he said.