Infiniti to Exit Europe?

Nissan Motor Co.’s upscale Infiniti brand may soon discontinue sales in Europe, AutoActu speculates.

The French website points to Infiniti’s plunging sales in Europe, the high-cost of meeting new emissions standards and the impact of Brexit on Infiniti production in England.

Infiniti faces strong competition from well-established German marquees in Europe. Exiting that market would allow the brand to focus on its core North American market, which accounts for 70% of the brand’s sales, and growing sales in China.

Last year, Infiniti’s global sales rose 7% to a record 246,500 units. But Europe accounted for only about 6,000 of the total. Infiniti entered the European market in 2008, with deliveries peaking there in 2015 at just under 13, 800 units.

The luxury brand had hoped its Mercedes A-Class-based Q30 hatchback would sell 40,000 units alone in Europe. But registrations of those vehicles plunged 60% last year to about 3,000 cars from an already disappointing 7,600 units in 2017.

AutoActu notes that Infiniti pulled its even slower-selling Q60, Q70 and QX70 crossovers from Europe in September. Earlier this year the marque announced plans to drop its slow-selling QX30, which also is based on the A-Class, altogether at the end of its lifecycle. Infiniti also has discontinued several engine options in Europe, including a Renault-sourced 1.5-liter diesel.

Last month, Christian Meunier was appointed to succeed Roland Krueger to head Infiniti’s global operations. Krueger joined Dyson Ltd.to run the home appliance maker’s fledgling electric car program.