INFINITI NOW IN SOUTH AFRICA (MZANSI)

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.