The Infiniti
brand is officially coming to South
Africa. This is according to Nissan SA Managing Director Mike Whitfield. Nissan owns the
Infiniti brand. To Nissan, Infiniti is like Lexus to Toyota. Actually during the mid-1990s, a few Infiniti QX45 models were imported into
Mzansi. I’m not sure if these were official or not. This time it’s all legal.
"We are thrilled to be bringing Infiniti to South Africa”
says Whitfield, “and we are confident
that it will be as successful here
as it is in many other regions around the world.”
The Infiniti range consists of sedans, coupes, SUVs and
crossovers badged FX, EX, G Coupe and G Cabriolet.
There’s also an Infiniti M luxury
sedan. The brand will start selling in Mzansi from June at selected centres in Hatfield,
Pretoria and Melrose Arch, then followed
by Durban and Cape Town during the fourth quarter of the year.
Expect the cars to be priced in similar fashion as their direct Lexus rivals, so for instance the FX would
be pitched against the Lexus RX
range in pricing. Infiniti SA has opted only for the G Coupe and Cabriolet for
now, which is probably a wise move as the G range targets the Lexus IS, but
also tries to attract Audi A4, BMW 3 Series,
Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Volvo S60 fans.
Currently the G37 Coupe has the same 245kW, 3.7-litre V6 engine found in the Nissan 370Z. You will probably pay around R620 000 for this car in Mzansi. The EX on the other hand,
will battle it out with the likes of Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Volvo XC60. The most
likely engines for Mzansi are the same 3.7-litre V6 (EX37) and a new 3.0-litre
turbo diesel marshalling 179kW
and 550Nm of torque (EX30d). Both EXs feature a 7-speed automatic gearbox. I’ve driven
the previous-generation G35 Coupe
which was based on the Nissan 350Z out in Japan. It was really good, premium-specced and awesome fun to
drive. The G37 should deliver the
same, but with even more power.
4 comments:
Good luck Infiniti. i like the looks of the FX
i think the Coupe is nice others look so old
Its still not a lexus......they made there own version of the lexus sc430 that i saw in the state's.it was a exact copy.hope they have there own designs now and makes it into the luxury market and not just another premium band
I am very glad that finally South Africans will enjoy the Infiniti Brand.
I am a South African rsiding in Dubai and it's my second FX35 that I am owning, great performance and handling.
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