Infiniti’s Future And Nissan Quashing Rumours About Mitsubishi

• Nissan is not looking to offload its stake in Mitsubishi.

• Infiniti’s future plans including more products and technology.

As for Mitsubishi, the junior partner in the three-way alliance with French automaker Renault, Nissan has officially debunked all claims and rumours that they were up for grabs. It had been reported that Nissan was looking for a way to make some quick cash but it seems that Infiniti will attempt to play a role, albeit a small one, in helping out its parent company’s finances.

Even if Nissan opted to sell off its holdings in Mitsubishi, their estimated worth is of $950 million or less than half of what they paid for them, according to Automotive News (Subscription required). Nissan and Mitsubishi are divvying up markets globally meaning that it will not introduce any new models in Europe. They instead will focus on Southeast Asia. As for North America, the Nissan-Mitsubishi plan is not as clear.

Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida, when asked about North America, said: “Right now, we are not discussing much. We say it this way — for a Mitsubishi plan, they need to build their own strategy in the U.S.,” Uchida said. “If they think they want support from Nissan, then, of course, we can support. So each brand has to build their own strategy. That comes first.”

Things are different for Infiniti where a concrete plan of action is being put into place. Recently appointed Global Infiniti Chairman Peyman Kargar, I want to be the modern Japanese luxury brand, also as reported by Automotive News (Subscription required).

Turning Infiniti’s fortunes are in Nissan’s Next program. Product will be at the forefront with a slew of new models starting with the QX55, the all-new QX60, and new or all-new iterations of all existing vehicles by 2024. By 2024, Infiniti also plans to introduce a new hybrid powertrain, which will be a high-power version of Nissan’s e-Power technology.

The customer experience will improve as well. Kargar said: “We don’t want to replace physical purchasing, but we want to offer customers a very nice experience, a really smooth customer experience,” he said. “These kinds of things, we are going to make them happen at a really excellent level, giving flexibility to our dealers and customers.” Here, he’s referring to the online buying process.

Also part of these efforts will be the expansion of Infiniti’s pickup and delivery service which will allow dealerships to deliver new vehicles to customers’ homes and retrieve cars for repair and maintenance.