Infiniti is on a hot streak. While it still might not be in the same league as the really big players in the luxury car game in terms of sales, Nissan’s luxury brand has been seeing significant growth, largely thanks to its competitive crossovers and SUVs. It’s hit a global sales record every year for the past eight years with 7 percent global growth in 2017 and 16 percent growth in China in the same timeframe.
But that’s not good enough for Infiniti. According to Automotive News, the brand is setting its sights on selling 150,000 units annually in China by 2023. For reference, Infiniti sold 48,408 vehicles in China in 2017. A big part of that planned growth will be from building the cars locally rather than taking big tariff hits by importing them into the world’s largest auto market.
A Chinese-built QX50 will go on sale there by the end of 2018 with more models being added to Infiniti’s Chinese manufacturing operation over the next five years. Currently, the only Chinese-built Infinitis available are the Q50L and Q70L which are long-wheelbase versions of the brand’s mid-size and full-size sedans. They really seem to like stretched out sedans in China.
China is experiencing a similar crossover craze that we’re experiencing in the U.S. which is where the QX50 comes in. Another key factor for growth in China is electrification. Infiniti has already said that more than half of all of the new cars it sells will be electrified by 2025 and we’ve been promised two Infiniti EVs by 2022.
China is a hot market for luxury cars and crossovers and Infiniti is wise to aggressively expand its operations in that region. Time will tell how the Chinese expansion will impact the Infiniti models we get here in the States.