Big falls are often followed by big bounces.
Infiniti's global boss, Peyman Kargar, hopes the same laws of physics apply to his struggling premium brand. After a 35 percent slump in worldwide sales last year, and a 25 percent slide in U.S. sales during the first quarter, Infiniti is poised to bounce back later this year, Kargar says.
Kargar believes the arrival of the long- awaited redesign of the brand's sales-leading QX60 will provide that bounce.
"A big, big additional jump will come thanks to the QX60," Kargar said in an interview from Infiniti's global headquarters in Yokohama. "We have a really great year in front of us."
The QX60 is critical to Infiniti's comeback, as parent company Nissan Motor Co. struggles to dig out of its biggest operating loss ever and avoid a third-straight year of red ink. But perfecting the formula to achieve sustainable growth at Infiniti is still a work in progress.
Kargar took the helm at the troubled business unit last year and said at the time he hoped to outline a revival plan sometime in the first half of 2021. But with the year half over and the industry struggling with the chaos of the global microchip shortage, that midterm blueprint is still under wraps.
Fuller details on Infiniti's revival are now expected to come as part of a new long-term strategy for Nissan that will be unveiled this fall by its CEO, Makoto Uchida, a person close to the board said.
"Infiniti is finally getting the good product now, but it is all centered around SUVs," the person said. "The biggest questions to come will be what we do about a sedan and what we do about making Infiniti a global player outside the U.S. and China, including possibly Japan."
Infiniti's global annual sales peaked at 249,000 vehicles in 2018, before dropping 24 percent to 188,994 in 2019. Global deliveries tumbled again to 122,000 vehicles in 2020.
Despite recent market turmoil, key elements of Infiniti's road map to 2025 will remain largely unchanged, Kargar said. The brand still plans to renew every vehicle in its lineup by around then. And the long-delayed introduction of a new electrified drivetrain is still on track.
Kargar also pledged to keep a sedan in the Infiniti lineup, despite a Japanese press report that Nissan plans to kill the venerable Nissan Skyline. The long-running Japan-made Skyline is sold in the U.S. market and elsewhere as the Infiniti Q50.
The Nikkei business daily reported this month that Nissan plans to discontinue the sedan. But Executive Vice President Asako Hoshino, global marketing and sales chief, said at recent event that Nissan would "never abandon Skyline." The Q50 is currently the only sedan in Infiniti's lineup, but there is also a Q60 coupe. Production of the top-end Q80 sedan ended in 2019.
Kargar said Infiniti will continue to offer a sedan, adding: "Markets are requesting it."
The next Infiniti sedan, whenever it arrives, is expected to share a platform with its counterpart in the Nissan lineup and also be electrified, likely with a variant of the e-Power hybrid setup.
Until then, Infiniti will be fueled by the two new crossovers this year, the QX55 and QX60. But complicating the comeback is the global microchip shortage. Supply chain kinks have forced Infiniti to temporarily suspend production of the QX50 compact crossover, one of its bestselling models, at its plant in Mexico, and output of the Q50 sedan from Japan.
Kargar said Infiniti is rationing chips to prioritize production of the key QX55 and QX60.
The 2022 model QX60, unveiled last week, heralds a fresh design language and new technologies that Infiniti hopes will reignite sales. Globally, it is the brand's bestselling nameplate.
The QX60 will be manufactured at Nissan's plant in Smyrna, Tenn., and in China. Among the new flourishes is a reworked front that evokes Infiniti's Japanese roots, with an origami-inspired mesh grille and headlamps that get a treatment designers call "kimono folds."
Under the hood, a 3.5-liter V-6 engine rated at 295 hp is combined with an all-new nine-speed automatic transmission. Also offered is an Intelligent All-Wheel-Drive system that features a new direct-coupling all-wheel drive engagement for more seamless power transfer. Select grades can tow up 6,000 pounds, a 20 percent improvement over the outgoing model.
An enhanced ProPilot Assist system also debuts in the QX60. The upgrade coordinates with the on-board navigation system to proactively slow the vehicle around sharp bends or off-ramps. It can also help manage driving in stop-and-go traffic.
The 2022 Infiniti QX60 arrives in the U.S. late this year. Pricing and other details will come later.
"The new era of Infiniti is starting very well," Kargar said.
Looking ahead, that new era may also include new markets, possibly even the domestic market of Japan. Unlike Toyota Motor Corp., which sells its Lexus premium marque in Japan, Nissan has shied away from the expense and risk of launching Infiniti here as a separate entity.
But resistance to the idea of avoiding Japan may be weakening amid renewed internal rumbling that to be a true global contender, Infiniti must have a presence at home.
"We will look at different opportunities later, and Japan will be one of the discussions we will have in the future," Kargar said. "We will not stick to the 23 countries that we have."
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