Infiniti Drops Magna Steyr as European Assembler

Nissan Motor Co. has reversed its plan to hire Magna Steyr to assemble a new small sedan for its Infiniti luxury brand in Graz, Austria.

Nissan declared in May that Magna Steyr, a unit of Canada's Magna International Inc., would assemble the new Infiniti model, starting in 2014. Now the carmaker intends to begin producing European versions of the car at one of its own facilities in the region in 2015.

Nissan operates European assembly plants in Barcelona, Spain; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Sunderland, U.K. Its Infiniti brand currently sells a few thousand units per year all of them imported in western Europe.

The new Infiniti model will ride on the same platform as Daimler AG's next-generation Mercedes-Benz A- and B-Class small cars. The vehicle is intended to compete with such models as the Audi A3 and BMW 1 Series in a segment where Infiniti envisions huge growth.