Infiniti said it will create Centres in each of the three major east coast capitals of the country in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The initial lineup will include the FX sport crossover, G37 hardtop convertible and coupe, and the M luxury sedan.

“As part of Infiniti’s worldwide expansion, Australia is a mandatory next step for the luxury brand,” said Dan Thompson CEO, Infiniti Cars Australia. “In a little more than a year, the promise of luxury vehicles with a unique combination of inspired performance, attentive hospitality and unparalleled quality will become a reality for the Australian market.”

‘‘They’re more of an individualist-type customer who are passionate about design and technology. They are early adopters and risk-takers and don’t like traditional conversative status and want to stand out from the crowd. They might even be tired of an Audi, BMW or Mercedes their neighbour drives’’.

Nissan founded Infiniti in 1989, around the same time as Japanese rivals Toyota and Honda created their own premium divisions, Lexus and Acura respectively. Following its launch in the United States and then Canada, the brand has since expanded to Europe as well as China, Korea, Taiwan and parts of the Middle East. Currently, Infiniti has 340 dealers worldwide with the company forecasting more than 165,000 sales in the 2011 Financial Year.

Infiniti has announced U.S. pricing on its 2011 G37 Coupe and Convertible models, which will both hit showrooms on November 10th. Infiniti has now refreshed the two-door G37 models exterior appearance with a resculptured front bumper featuring a new lower grille and fog light housing / vent designs, as well as with new 18-inch and 19-inch alloy wheel styles.

The Sport Package is now available on the all-wheel drive models and a Navigation Package now joins Premium Package as standard on the Sport 6MT models, while Infiniti has also added a Limited Edition trim level to the Convertible range, with more content and unique Monaco Red leather-appointed interior.

Prices for the coupe start from $36,200 (an increase of $150 over the 2010MY) and for the convertible from $44,500.

Infiniti has released pricing for facelifted 2010 G37 Sedan and G37 Coupe. Prices start from $33,250 for the updated 2010 Infiniti G37 four-door sedan, and from $36,050 for the 2010 Infiniti G37 coupe.

Key exterior changes to the sedan model include some revisions such as the new grille, reshaped front bumper and headlight treatments. There are no exterior styling changes for the 2010 G37 Coupe.

For the 2010 model year, both the sedan and coupe variants of the G37 gain a number of interior upgrades including an available next generation navigation system, revised colors and trim, new gauge color scheme and center console design.

2010 Infiniti G37 Sedan MSRPs:

G37 Sedan $33,250 USD
G37 Sedan Journey $34,450 USD
G37x Sedan AWD $36,050 USD
G37 Sedan Sport 6MT $37,000 USD

2010 Infiniti G37 Coupe MSRPs:

G37 Coupe $36,050 USD
G37 Coupe Journey $37,500 USD
G37x Coupe AWD $39,150 USD
G37 Coupe Sport 6MT $40,400 USD

Nissan’s luxury division revealed pricing for upcoming 2009 Infiniti G37 Convertible. The new seven-speed, automatic-equipped 2009 Infiniti G37 Convertible starts at $43,850, six-speed manual model with Sport package starts at $43,900.

Navigation and Technology packages will cost $1,850 and $1,150, respectively, but if it came time to use our money, we’d just tick the box for the Sport ($1,350 with Premium, $1,550 without) and Performance Tire and Package for $650, along with the “R Spec High Friction” brake pads ($370). The 2009 Infiniti G37 Convertible goes on sale June 19th.

Nissan has unveiled the first photos of its luxury Infiniti G37 cabrio.

The cabrio will be more refined than the hard-top model with the option of a unique interior treatment, plus audio and air conditioning systems have been tuned to operate perfectly with the top up or down.

The Infiniti G37 will be fully deserving of the G badge, with power coming from the same 3.7-litre V6 unit that is set to go in the forthcoming 370Z and is in the current G37 Coupe.

The G37 has opted for a folding three-piece hard-top cover as well instead of the more traditional canvas roof and it will automatically retract at the touch of a button. This means expect similar looks and performance to the Coupe with the roof up.

PRESS RELEASE

Nissan GT 2012 Mid-term Business Plan Unveiled

TOKYO (May 13, 2008) – Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., today announced financial results for the fiscal year 2007, ending March 31, 2008, and filed the following results with the Tokyo Stock Exchange:

Net revenues of 10.824 trillion yen (US $94.62 billion, euro 66.98 billion)
Operating profit of 790.8 billion yen (US $6.91 billion, euro 4.89 billion)
Ordinary profit of 766.4 billion yen (US $6.70 billion, euro 4.74 billion)
Consolidated net income of 482.3 billion yen (US $4.22 billion, euro 2.98 billion)
Operating profit margin of 7.3%

Nissan sold a record 3,770,000 vehicles worldwide in fiscal year 2007, an increase of 8.2%. In North America, sales were 1,352,000 units, up 1.3%; United States sales were 1,059,000 units, up 3.0%. In Japan, sales were 721,000 units, down 2.5%. In Europe, sales came to 636,000 units, up 17.9%. Sales in General Overseas Markets (GOM) were up 22.1% at 1,061,000 units, surpassing the 1-million mark for the first time.

In fiscal year 2007, Nissan released 11 all-new models globally: Livina, X-TRAIL, Altima Coupe, Atlas truck, Aprio, Infiniti G37 Coupe, Rogue, GT-R, Infiniti EX luxury crossover, Murano and a single-cab version of the Frontier Navara pickup truck.

The company’s net automotive cash position stood at 180.3 billion yen (US $1.58 billion, euro 1.12 billion) at the end of fiscal 2007. As originally planned at the start of Nissan Value-Up, Nissan will propose a 20-yen-per-share year-end dividend at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in June, for a full-year dividend of 40 yen per share for fiscal 2007.

“In a challenging and volatile environment, Nissan demonstrated that it has reached the maturity to deliver a high level of performance,” said Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn.

Nissan GT 2012

Nissan also released an outline of its new five-year business plan called “Nissan GT 2012,” which covers the period from April 1, 2008, to March 31, 2013. With “G” for growth and “T” for trust, this new plan is focused on the company’s long-term performance combined with its responsibilities to stakeholders as a significant global business.

Nissan GT 2012 contains corporate commitments and business breakthroughs. The three commitments are:

1. Quality leadership: In addition to focusing on product quality, the company will continue and accelerate actions to improve service, brand and management quality.

2. Zero-emission vehicle leadership: Nissan will introduce an all-electric vehicle in the U.S. and Japan in 2010 and then mass-market vehicles to consumers globally in 2012.

3. Five percent revenue growth on average over five years (FY2008 to FY2012): Revenue growth will be supported by a product plan that will launch 60 all-new models in the next five years and more than 15 new technologies every year from 2009.

The three commitments of Nissan GT 2012 will be backed by five business breakthroughs:

Quality leadership
Zero-emission vehicle leadership
Business expansion: Infiniti, Light Commercial Vehicles and global entry cars
Market expansion: India, Middle East, Brazil, Russia and China
Cost leadership

“Nissan GT 2012 reflects the determination of our company to play a major role in the development of a sustainable mobile society,” commented Ghosn. “There’s a balance to be sought between the potential growth in world markets and the demand for a cleaner planet. We are convinced that the mass availability of affordable zero-emission vehicles is the most significant breakthrough our industry could deliver, and, together with Renault, Nissan intends to be the breakthrough leader.”

FY2008 outlook

The global sales forecast for fiscal 2008 is 3.9 million units. The main contributions to volume growth will come primarily from GOM and Russia. Nissan will launch nine all-new products during fiscal 2008: Teana, Infiniti FX, Maxima, Bakkie successor, Qashqai+2, a mini SUV, Cube, Z and Infiniti G37 Convertible.

In 2008, principal external risks are high commodity and energy prices, volatile foreign exchange and weakening mature automotive markets.

Based on the company’s outlook and assuming foreign exchange rates of 100 yen/dollar and 155 yen/euro, Nissan filed the following forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009, with the Tokyo Stock Exchange:
Consolidated net revenues of 10.35 trillion yen (US $103.50 billion, euro 66.77 billion)
Operating profit of 550 billion yen (US $5.50 billion, euro 3.55 billion)
Ordinary profit of 545 billion yen (US $5.45 billion, euro 3.52 billion)
Net income of 340 billion yen (US $3.40 billion, euro 2.19 billion)

Note 1: Amounts in dollars and euros for the results are translated for the convenience of the reader at the foreign exchange rates of 114.4 yen/dollar and 161.6 yen/euro, the average rates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008.

Note 2: For the purpose of comparison with FY2007, FY2006 excludes the one-time fifth-quarter inclusion made in 2006 to harmonize the fiscal years of overseas subsidiaries such as Europe and Mexico.