Infiniti model ranges to form an orderly queue
PICTURES: REUTERS WHOEVER said: “What's in a name?” obviously never worked in the motor industry, where the name of a model can have a huge impact on sales.
Just ask the marketing men at GM who named a new Chevrolet sedan, largely intended for the Latin American market, the Nova, figuring that meant “new” in Spanish, when actually it means “doesn't go”.
Likewise, Mitsubishi’s flagship beetlecrusher is known as the Frontera in Latin American because Pajero means something very rude indeed in Spanish. And don’t think sticking to alphanumeric designat i o n s will keep you out of trouble. The name of Toyota’s gorgeous little MR2 roadster translates into Japanese as Ni-san.
Now, Infiniti, with a new corporate headquarters in Hong Kong (which says something about the company’s marketing focus) and a new president, Johan de Nysschen, has announced that it is going to rebadge all its models as part of its campaign to become a world player in the premium segment.
De Nysschen is taking Infiniti back to its roots, to the Q45 luxury sedan that launched the brand in the United States in 1989.
Starting with a new premium sports sedan, the Q50, which will make its debut at the Detroit Motor Show this month, all future Infiniti models will be coded simply Q (for sedans and convertibles) or QX, for crossovers and SUVs, followed by a two-digit number. The two digits won't refer to the size of the engine but to the position of that model in the Infiniti rage; the bigger the number the more important – and expensive – the car.
De Nysschen explained: “Over the past few months, we’ve talked to our dealers, customers and business partners, all of whom agree that we need a simple and consistent new-model identity to make our branding more straightforward. So we decided on ‘Q’ to emphasise our performance credentials while referencing the original Q45 of 1989.” - motoring.co.za