Dao Ge said car original text/ listen to the wind chant
On January 5, Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. (the main company of Dongfeng Nissan) officially announced that Dongfeng Infiniti will be included in Dongfeng Nissan's management system as an independent business headquarters. After Venucia, Infiniti became the second brand to be incorporated by Dongfeng Nissan, and Dongfeng Nissan has three major brands: Nissan, Venucia and Infiniti.
In fact, as early as July 2021, news about Infiniti's return to Dongfeng Nissan has been on the Internet. In December last year, it was also reported that Infiniti's China headquarters would be moved from Beijing to Guangzhou early this year, and that Infiniti would be responsible for Infiniti's operations in China as dongfeng Nissan's headquarters. The official acquisition of Infiniti by Dongfeng Nissan also confirmed the previous rumors.
It is worth noting that compared with most other luxury brands and even Japanese luxury brands, Infiniti's sales in China are not outstanding, and it is not necessarily a bad thing to be included this time. Luo Junmin, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, told the editor of "Dao Ge Said Car" that Infiniti's inclusion in the Dongfeng Nissan management system is a good thing for Infiniti, and as far as the current situation is concerned, Infiniti still needs a period of cultivation time in the Chinese market. Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Association, also holds the same attitude towards this.
Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. said that after returning to Dongfeng Nissan, Infiniti will make full use of Dongfeng Nissan's advantages in research and development, manufacturing and management, explore new business models, contribute to Infiniti's electrification, automatic driving, mobile Internet and shared travel, and further explore opportunities in the luxury car market.
Early in the morning did not catch up with the business woes of Infiniti
Retrospectively, Infiniti's entry into the Chinese market is not short, as early as 2006, Infiniti entered the Chinese market in the form of imports. After that, it naturally became the earliest Sino-Japanese joint venture luxury brand in China, and in August 2014, Dongfeng Motor Group and Nissan Motor co-owned to establish Dongfeng Infiniti Automobile Co., Ltd., which opened the domestic road before Japanese rivals such as Lexus and Acura.
In fact, infiniti's new product launch speed after domestic production is not fast, compared with other second-tier luxury brands such as Cadillac, Volvo, etc., there is a hint of "Buddha" taste. Infiniti only launched two domestic models, Q50L and QX50 in November 2014 and March 2015, and for six years, the brand did not launch any new models in China, perfectly missing the rise of China's luxury brand car market.
The result was that Infiniti gradually fell after a short period of barely being called a highlight. In the year after the start of domestic production, its annual sales doubled from 17,100 units in 2013 to 30,000 units, and continued to grow by 33% in 2015. Perhaps because of the unstable foundation or the lack of product innovation, Infiniti's growth rate plummeted to 3.4% in 2016 from 33% in 2015. After a two-year adjustment with frequent executive turnover, Infiniti sold 48,408 vehicles in 2017, and the growth rate picked up to 16.4%. After 2018, Infiniti's sales continued to decline again, and in the first 11 months of 2021, its sales did not even break through the 5 figures.
It is worth mentioning that Infiniti has begun to work hard, in December 2021, the third domestic Infiniti model - medium and large SUV QX60 announced the listing, the new car at that time was also seen as a signal that Infiniti's operating model is about to reform. As a result, because the spokesperson is Wang Lihong, who exposed the black material some time ago, the spokesperson terminated the contract one day, and Infiniti did not get a star effect from it.
Shrinking Infiniti ushered in the opportunity Dongfeng Nissan main company optimization
At first, Infiniti and Dongfeng Group established a joint venture company Dongfeng Infiniti, parallel to Dongfeng Nissan, and after being absorbed by Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., it seems that Infiniti was downgraded, but at the same time it may also be the opportunity for Infiniti to develop again. Industry insiders pointed out that Infiniti has huge independent operating costs due to its small sales volume, which is conducive to allowing Infiniti to rely on Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. to reduce cost pressure.
According to Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., the integration of Infiniti into the Dongfeng Nissan system is also to promote the development of strategic business and achieve high-quality operations. Although this is a bit of a whitewash, it may be the same. It is worth mentioning that Infiniti's self-demotion is also in line with the current situation of its brand. Since 2016, Infiniti's global sales have begun to decline for five consecutive years, when it had to shrink its front, and in 2019, Infiniti moved its global headquarters from Hong Kong to Yokohama, Japan. In early 2020, Infiniti withdrew from the Western European market and announced that it would focus on the Chinese and American markets. Shrinking the front now is a smart move for a brand that is not particularly strong in the first place.
Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. also said that in 2022, Infiniti's new round of product introduction will further meet the needs of Chinese consumers for luxury brands. In this regard, it may be foreseen that not only the brand operation, but even the product, Infiniti's 2022 is worth looking forward to. Some insiders even analyzed that Infiniti can share technology and production lines such as Dongfeng Nissan to reduce costs, and Infiniti in the next stage may be more people-friendly in terms of price. This has also won a transition time for Infiniti's development in China, as Luo Junmin, deputy secretary general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said that Infiniti still needs a period of cultivation time in the Chinese market.
At the same time, the acquisition of Infiniti is also an optimization measure for Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., with infiniti's return to Dongfeng Nissan, Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd.'s business units will be further reduced from 5 to 4, namely Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Car Company, Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., Zhengzhou Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Dongfeng Motor Parts. Previously, Dongfeng Limited said that the integration of the business unit is to strengthen internal resource synergy and optimize the competitiveness of Dongfeng Co., Ltd.