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April 25, 2014

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Home » Business » Autotalk Special

Infiniti offers challenge to German premium brands

By Lu Nengneng | April 25, 2014, Friday | Print Edition

COMPETING as a minority player in China’s premium auto market just gives Infiniti a perfect chance to get its message across — be a challenger.

Having achieved impressive 153 percent year-on-year sales growth in China in the first quarter, which increased its market share to nearly 2 percent from 1.2 percent last year, the emerging premium auto brand is now fully geared up to break the stranglehold of the big-three German brands — a challenge about brand reputation as well as sales volume.

“We want to let everyone know what our brand stands for, and what sets us apart from others,” said Dr Daniel Kirchert, Managing Director of Infiniti China. “In the past, Infiniti was less known though we offered impressive designs and high-performance cars, because it didn’t bolster up a clear brand image. That’s why we want to make a change, with ‘Gan Ai’ as our new brand communication concept.”

The concept is about the brand’s challenging and loving spirit, but above all, an emotional resonance with customers that will differentiate Infiniti from the German brands known for their focus on functionality and mechanics, Kirchert said.

This strategy is really working its magic. The name of Infiniti is now tied up with family affections by a popular TV reality show “Where are we going? Dad” it sponsored last year. And its cooperation with  “A Bite of China” Season Two, another on-air hit TV documentary on food culture, puts the brand into a particularly Chinese human perspective.

When launching its Q50 sports sedan earlier this month to challenge the dominance of BMW 3 series and Audi A4L in the entry-level premium segment, Infiniti even hosted a special Challenge Vettel event where five elite drivers, including pop star Jimmy Lin, took on the four-time Formula One champion by driving the car on the racetrack.

That’s how people can really feel the brand and its product, which does have what it takes to be a challenger, Kirchert said.

The Q50 answers the urge for innovative technologies from those tech-savvy consumers, featuring a series of world firsts that include Direct Adaptive Steering (DAS), Predictive Forward Collision Warning (PFCW) and Active Lane Control (ALC). The class-leading two touchscreen infotainment system — Infiniti InTouchTM gives drivers a revolutionary experience in car connectivity.

Q50 will also be the first Infiniti model to be locally produced in China this year with a long wheelbase version, specifically designed for China. Q50 is going to be the brand’s most important product here for the next two years, expected to secure 5-10 percent market share in the segment within its life cycle, said Kirchert.

And it is just a start. The brand will expand its product portfolio by 60 percent in the next five years to cover 85 percent of luxury model segments, including the new premium compact crossover Q30 Concept which is a fusion of coupe, crossover and hatchback.

“I think Infiniti has lots of opportunities here. China’s premium market may overtake the US this year in terms of sales. By 2020, annual sales could exceed 2 million units,” said Kirchert.

And China’s premium car market is currently dominated by the three German brands with a 70-80 percent share, which compares to their less than 50 percent market share in mature markets like the US. They have been doing quite well in China as they started localization earlier. But now more consumers are more willing to experience different brands and products as the market matures, he added.

To further tap the potential in China, Infiniti will expand its distribution network further into tier-2 and tier-3 cities. This year it will open around 20 new stores and grow the number of dealers to over 80. This growth rate is expected to continue in the next few years.

Infiniti will introduce another six new models in China on top of the recently launched Q50 as part of its product offensive upgrade.

“We are on track to achieve another 50 percent growth this year,” Kirchert said. “As all the building blocks for our success are put in place piece by piece, I am very confident about hitting the sales target of 100,000 for the year of 2018.”

Autotalk Special


 

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