Relevance fast tracks Q30 hatch

The new regional head of Infiniti says "relevance" will be the measure for the brand's success in the Australian market. But he's seeking to fast-track the new Q30 premium hatch to grab sales just in case.

Infiniti's newly appointed Director, Asia and Oceania, New Zealander, Dane Fisher, told motoring.com.au that he will use his "joker card" to get the premium compact into Australian showrooms before the end of 2015.

Fisher joined Nissan Australia and Infiniti Australia chief, Richard Emery, yesterday to reinforce the message that the fledgling brand was Down Under for "the long haul".

Speaking at the launch of the turbocharged petrol four-cylinder 2.0t variant of the midsize Q50 in Melbourne, Emery stated that the launch of the car marked the "end of the first phase for Infiniti in Australia".

"It coincides with some important decisions we have taken about how we will run Infiniti Down Under," he stated.

Emery said with the appointment of its own executive team reporting directly to Fisher at Infiniti's Hong Kong headquarters, the brand was "no longer an infant, but a fully fledged sister-brand with our [Nissan Australia's] full support".

Emery, a former senior executive at Mercedes-Benz Australia said Infiniti's success between now and 2020 would not be measured in "a number or a piece of marketshare". Rather he says, the mark would be: "That we're on the consideration set for most consumers in the segments [in which Infiniti operates]."

Fisher, just five months into his tenure at Infiniti, described the brand's performance to date Down Under as "mediocre". Year to date August, Infiniti had reported 280 registrations, around 130 of which was the latest product, the Q50 midsizer.

He says, however, relevance will also be his measure of success for the brand Down Under.

"It's to be relevant," he told motoring.com.au.

"We need to have a strong base to the [dealer] network which we're starting to build and we need to be kicking through some of those goal posts… Through 1000 cars [per year], which I think is very realistic with Q30. Then the next barriers become a lot more achievable," he stated.

Fisher and Emery are jointly responsible for the choice of Jean-Philippe Roux as the new head of Infiniti Australia. The Frenchman has runs on the board in his own market and others in southern Europe and is aware of "the challenges Infiniti faces", Fisher says.

Roux assumes the reins of the local operation on November 1.

In conjunction with Roux and Emery and outgoing Infiniti Australia GM, Campbell York, Fisher says he's working on an initial three-year plan for the brand Down Under.

"We need a three-year plan first, not a 2020 plan," he told motoring.com.au.

The next stage of development includes more dealers, with Perth and a second outlet in greater Melbourne the likely choice, but also includes fast tracking of new models.

"I have one joker card per model per year," Fisher explains. "And I'm working on Q30 for Australia."

Fisher says he would like to see the small premium hatch (which shares platform and powertrains with Mercedes-Benz's A-Class) on sale in Australia before the end of 2015. To be followed by the QX30 crossover (think Benz's GLA), he says that the vehicles are key to attracting buyers to the brand for the first time.

"These are buyers who don't want drive the same cars their fathers drove," he opines.

Fisher says he's confident about the Q30 and QX30's prospects but is "very excited" about the products that will come after the compact pair. He says the all-new Q60 in both two and four-door variants are "game-changers" for Infiniti, the new next production cars scheduled for world release.

"We have an avalanche of product coming — two new models per year until the end of the decade," he enthuses, in the same breath praising the work of recently departed global Infiniti chief, Johan de Nysschen.

"This car [Q50] is a pseudo De Nysschen effort. The Q30 definitely is and the cars after that are pretty special," Fisher opined.