Infiniti quits Australia

Infiniti will exit Australia. It’s official

The underachieving Nissan premium arm will officially depart the local marketplace “in late 2020”.

The announcement took place this morning via Nissan Australia boss, Stephen Lester, who informed staff at the Japanese car-maker's head office in Melbourne and its five dealers and three service centres in Australia.

carsales understands that formally, Infiniti Motor Company, the global entity, withdrew Nissan Australia’s distribution rights for the standalone brand.

That mechanism suggests that the decision was unilateral, however, we can’t imagine anyone at the local operation seriously lamenting the underachieving brand’s departure.

Nissan Australia sources would not discuss the number of jobs Infiniti’s departure would affect.

“We’re working to find alternative opportunities for any [headquarters] employees impacted,” the spokesperson told carsales.

Infiniti announced its withdrawal from western Europe earlier this year. That coincided with news the Q30 hatch and small QX30 crossover, which share their architecture with the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, would also be axed.

The most likely model to succeed for the brand Down Under, the mid-size QX50 SUV, was launched globally in 2017 but has been an off-again, off-again prospect for local introduction. Key sticking points included pricing and the lack of AEB in its international spec.

Today’s Infiniti global announcement reads: “[Infiniti] announced today the next step in a strategic plan that will provide greater efficiencies as the brand focuses on priorities leading up to the electrification of its portfolio over the next three years…

“As part of the plan, Infiniti will withdraw and conclude its sales operations in Australia in late 2020. Until this time, the Company will be working with INFINITI Australia dealers to remain operational for full sales and aftersales service.”

Infiniti says it is “committed to fulfilling its obligations to customers in Australia.

“Beyond 2020, the company is assessing the most effective and convenient way of providing full aftersales service for Infiniti owners in Australia, including service, maintenance and warranty repairs.

“The Company will confirm these arrangements in the months to come,” it stated.

It's the second time Infiniti, which was established in 1989, has been axed from Australia, where Hyundai's equivalent in Genesis has just set up shop and where Nissan's premium brand was officially launched as a separate brand in 2012. In the seven years since then, less than 4300 Infiniti vehicles have found homes here.

In 2018 Infiniti registered just 649 vehicles in Australia -- over 16 per cent down on its 2017 total of 776. In the first seven months of 2019, 351 new Infiniti models had hit the road, one more than the same period last year.

Infiniti Australia is currently offering generous discounts across its model range, including the Q30 (from $42,888) and QX30 (from $49,888), as well as the Q50 medium sedan (from $41,888), Q60 coupe (from $53,888), QX70 large SUV (from $56,888) and the hulking Nissan Patrol-based QX80 (pictured; from $108,888).