while renault/nissan is a huge company, i doubt they have anything like the resources of toyota/lexus and more importantly, they're unlikely to pour money into infiniti. now infiniti got off to a really bad start, their original q45 was plagued with problems. their marketing was dreadful. they've sputtered forward though, with the g35/g37 being their best 'hit'. they're now going through another makeover to brand everything a 'q' which seems weird but we may look back on it and think it was genius. their current range is better than ever, but they need a real new flagship.

last i checked, india is part of asia and has its brands (acquired), with jaguar and land rover (india has the last laugh over their former 'rulers' lol).

but i don't agree at all that the success or failure of infiniti (the only other luxury car brand besides lexus - acura doesn't count) makes any difference to lexus. it's not 'japan vs. germany (vs. u.s.)'. it is also obvious that korea's hyundai/kia, with or without a separate brand, is going to have several potentially competitive luxury vehicles, and it is also obvious, that within the next decade we'll see 'better than dreadful' chinese luxury vehicles.

so is it germany vs. japan vs. u.s. vs. india vs. korea? no, it's a global stage and it makes NO difference where a vehicle is designed or made except to those clinging to national identities. do american bmw buyers care if their 'bimmer' is made in germany or spartanburg? no! do rx buyers care that they're made in canada? no!

 

Sorry but you missed the jest of my post. The point is Europe has the reputation for having powerhouse car companies (fashion etc). Benz/BMW's success in America makes it easier for Audi to succeed here when they finally got their act together since cars luxury cars from Germany in particular are ALREADY highly respected here. Contrarily Japanese luxury is still a new relative term in regards to cars and only Lexus has been successful and seen as on par or at least near the Germans. However it is just Lexus. Thus the reputation for Japanese luxury is nowhere near Europeans since the other brands struggle. To make it more specific it is Japan only as the other Asian countries do not offer luxury marques (the only India/Aston Martin sentence has nothing to do with my point and Hyundai isn't a luxury brand).


Thus when one thinks of European luxury, they think Porsche, Audi, BMW, Benz, heck even Ferrari etc. When one thinks of Asian luxury (specifically Japanese luxury) they think Lexus. That is unequal weight which makes it harder for Lexus to seem like a credible brand for those that just automatically dismiss Japanese luxury.

It makes a difference with public perception which in turn sells or does not sell a product/car.

 

Off topic, but Audi's sales aren't that high when compared to Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus.

US Sales

2002: 85,726
2003: 86,421
2004: 77,917
2005: 83,066
2006: 90,116
2007: 93,506
2008: 87,760
2009: 82,716
2010: 101,629
2011: 117,561
2012: 139,310
2013: 158,061

 

Yeah, but worldwide, Audi is selling like hotcakes.

 

True, I just assume that most of us are from North America.

 

respectfully, i think this is all an 'old world' line of thought... most people don't give two hoots whether a brand is "Japanese" or "German" or "European". If Toyota bought BMW (as it could easily), would BMW then be "European luxury" or "Japanese luxury" and regardless, would anyone care?

BMW's auto transmissions forever were made by GM (a fact most people don't know, example), but of course they were "German cars" with refined 'european' transmissions.

 

Apparently GM's 6L45 transmission is used in the current X1, X3, 1, and 3-series.

 

has GM always provided the trannies for BMW? I did not know that

 

Here are some other links.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...mission-in-BMW

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=251952

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f...ontract-88400/

http://etereman.com/blog/general-mot...w-to-fix-them/

 

Worldwide, Audi, BMW, Benz I believe all now sell over 1 million units a year...
Lexus sells 500,000 or so
Infiniti maybe 140,000

 

You're assuming that engine was made to be a sedan engine. In reality that engine was made to be used in all sorts of applications, not just sedans. Clearly the 5.6L V8 didn't make the M56/Q70 V8 nose heavy so I don't see an issue. NO reviews have given complaints about the V8 powertrain.

I honestly would not care in the slightest if Lexus put the 5.7 Tundra engine in a Lexus as long as NVH levels were appropriate.

All in all, you seem to be drawing some sort of distinction where there's no need. The only difference between a "truck engine" and a sedan engine is NVH, placement of things like the alternator, and modifications that allow the engine to operate at odd angles. They're also usually tuned for torque, which isn't a bad thing in a heavy luxury sedan.

I know E36's had them, so they've been in use for quite a while.

 

They've had failed leadership for most of those years, including under Carlos Ghosn. Although he greatly impacted Nissan in a positive way, he treated Infiniti as an afterthought thus the less than stellar sales results (although still relatively decent). Johan De Nysschen is their new CEO and he is clearly aggressive with his plans for the brand. He has already made dramatic changes since taking over and seems to have given the brand a clear direction, but of course that doesn't happen overnight. He vastly improved Audi's branding here in the US and he has the sales results to prove it. I have no doubt he will do the same for Infiniti.


If they were no threat to Lexus or the others, there would be no need to dump on them. Because they wouldn't even be seen as competition, which clearly is not the case. Once the high performance Q50 comes out, it will be a huge game changer for the brand.

 

While I agree they need a new flagship (and its in the works), I have to disagree that their original Q45 was plagued with problems. That's actually an untrue statement. In fact, it was their highest quality and most reliable of all the Q45s (and perhaps their highest quality model ever). It was praised in the media and always received positive reviews. Their marketing was certainly a failure, but the original Q45 was faster than the LS400, had better handling, and just as high quality materials as the LS. There's a Road and Track review out there which compared the two head to head back in 1990 and it was essentially a draw, with each excelling in different areas. Despite the poor marketing, the original Q45 actually sold fairly well (selling on average anywhere between 12-14k/year for 5 straight years). It was the weakened 2nd generation that hurt the model (and brand IMO) the most and its sales suffered as a result.

 

Not sure why people think one man will change things. Audi's turnaround was not just him at all, if anything the incredible Ferdinand Piëch drove it to where it is today. He is the one that wanted Audi to go sporty (ala BMW) and VW against Benz (that clearly didn't work). What dramatic changes has he made? All we have seen is the idiotic name change which has been panned by everyone not a fanboy. No it won't happen overnight but I don't think the brand's success will happen because of one man at all, especially if Ghosn could not do it and he is as good as it gets in the business.

Ghosn saved Infiniit, they were going to be discontinued as a whole and he saved it so not sure why you made that commentary about Carlos. If not for him the brand would be in worse shape.

No one is dumping on anything and it sure isn't because they are seen as a threat lol. Pinning hopes on a car not built when they don't even have a full lineup of vehicles isn't exactly confidence inspiring, especially when they struggle selling sedans over 50/60k.

 

Ghosn's primary concern is Nissan, always has been. He has made several comments over the years that gave the impression that Infiniti was not a primary concern for him - thus no focus, less money spent on research and development, and no money spent on performance models and a successor flagship to the Q45. He's a numbers guy and always has been. He never saw a need for Nissan to invest money into Infiniti on anything that wasn't selling over 1000 units per month, so I strongly disagree that he "saved" Infiniti. If anything, he held them back.

Johan's accomplishments so far:

1. Getting the ball rolling on a new flagship sedan
2. Getting the ball rolling on a new flagship coupe
3. Getting the ball rolling on a Q50 high performance model
4. Axing plans for an all electric Infiniti as it shouldn't be a primary focus right now (he's right)
5. The new nomenclature (whether you like it or not)
6. Development of the Q30 concept (and an agreement with Daimler to share resources)
7. Keeping the G37 in their product line (a smart move, as the 2013 model just sold 2000 units last month)

He has a clear vision for the brand and sees the blank spots in their product line that need to be filled. Again though, this doesn't happen overnight.

I've already made the case that Infiniti has no problems selling vehicles over 70k. Just look at the QX80 for last month (over 1200 units sold - more than the LX and more than the LS). But if your comment was a dig at the Q70, the current model is 4 years old and is being refreshed later this year (as you know) and aging models typically dont sell that well. The LS, also an aging design, isn't selling so hot either these days (and that's despite the new refresh). And the whole world knows Infiniti currently have no flagship sedan, so you cant sell what you dont have. But the argument you're trying to make is that Infiniti cant sell expensive cars, which is false. They can, they just dont have the product available to sell. Let's see what happens after the refreshed Q70 & Q70L comes out. The last generation M sold like hotcakes in the same price bracket, but they nailed the styling which is something they did not do with this current generation. The refresh will help significantly in my opinion.