Tuesday, March 06, 2012
By Shilpa Chopra
Nissan to launch Infiniti cars in India, Toyota in process to bring Lexus
Come 2015 and India will have as many luxury cars as any other developed nation. Adding to the line up will be Infiniti brand owned by Japanese car maker Nissan. Already there were recent reports that Toyota is also thinking of bringing in Lexus in India. With these two luxury car giants in India, expect some lush and plush cars. The fact that is encouraging car makers to bring in premium segment cars in India is the recent shift in preference for luxury cars by the car buyers in India.
Andy Palmer, vice president of Nissan Motor Co has said in a report that witnessing a growth in demand for luxury cars in India, Nissan will be taking Infiniti to other parts of the world including India. On the other hand, Toyota also intends to pitch in its luxury car marquee Lexus in India. This will further increase competition in this segment that is currently governed by the German players such as Volkswagen, BMW, Audi and Mercedes Benz.
There are also reports that suggest the Nissan is thinking of assembling the Infiniti cars in India as bringing in the cars as completely built up units will make these costly due to the duty and hence in order to keep the price down, the cars will be assembled at the plant jointly owned by Renault and Nissan. However, the plan to land Infiniti cars in India will take some time to mature as Nissan will have to think over the local content of the cars in order to comply with the import norms.
Significantly, the sales of luxury cars in India is on the rise despite of the slowdown in the overall car sales. The entry of Infiniti cars in India will further help boost this trend and with it the global target of selling 5 lakh units will also take shape. As per the long term strategy, Nissan will be assembling the Infiniti cars in India and could also think of exporting it from here to other countries.
