Text: Shanghai Ayi
Why isn't Infiniti in a hurry?
This is an interesting question.
I vividly remember that more than a decade ago, with the development of China's economy, luxury car sales began to heat up, and in addition to the BBA that we are now a household name, there were also many unique car brands in this market, such as Infiniti.
Since its inception in 1989, Infiniti has been building vehicles with its own independent aesthetic and making better products for users who can truly read it. After entering the Chinese market, in the past 18 years, 350,000 users have chosen to walk with Infiniti.
Of course, the wheels of the times are rolling forward, and the market survival environment of luxury cars has also changed very much. Today, the overall state of the luxury car market is developing very interestingly.
With the continuous emergence of new car manufacturers, and dare to challenge the existing luxury brand market pattern. More and more consumers are starting to re-examine their car purchase decisions. Brands with character, independent aesthetics, and their own persistence have begun to receive more and more attention and favor.
The new change in the market situation has also begun to pull everyone back to the same starting line. As long as we firmly grasp the opportunity of the reshuffle of the times, we can firmly occupy the most favorable market position in the new market pattern. These are things that everybody is working very.
And Infiniti is doing something like that.
At this year's Beijing Auto Show, Infiniti unveiled a new pure electric concept car, Vision Qe, clearly announcing what its next phase of products will become. Usually, this shows that a brand has thought clearly and figured out what the next road is going to be.
Go your own way, the path of beauty
What kind of brand does Infiniti want to be?
In fact, for any automotive company, becoming the strongest brand with the largest market share is an ultimate goal. However, in a huge and complex market environment, how to find your own positioning is the most important.
That is to say - go your own way.
It seems that Infiniti's brand history is one that is more focused on creating distinctive automotive products, and as a result, establishing its own unique and individual.
This is what Xin Yu, the global brand officer of Infiniti, said very firmly and firmly in the interview after the press conference: At the beginning of the birth of the brand in 1989, Infiniti was not a brand born for the public, and we aspired to be the only one for the few.
This is not an easy statement, after all, in this day and age, almost everyone is keen to create traffic and be coerced by it. But if you really calm down and think about how the product presents beauty, how to use this as a starting point to find users who can truly appreciate their own beauty, it is something that most people can't do.
It's about resisting external temptations and staying true to the brand's original intentions.
Of course, we can also see this original intention very clearly in Vision Qe.
Infiniti wanted the Vision Qe to be a product reimagined based on a new design language, a sleek, elegant, and aerodynamic fastback shape that exudes an elegant sporty feel.
In search of such an elegant sense of sportiness, Infiniti referenced the boats that naturally exhibited a sense of speed in the America's Cup, whether they were sailing or not, and they also carefully studied the streamlined stance of the eagle as it dives in search of prey, with its wings tucked in to minimize drag to increase speed.
This design concept, along with the simple, streamlined fastback concept car full of single-line design forms, is very much in line with the "Bird of the Air" created by Constantin Brancusi, one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century.
It is a stark contrast to today's car styling, which is basically not innovative or thoughtful, and is keen to pay tribute to the design elements of various successful models.
And more importantly, such concept car design elements are the source and blueprint for the design and creation of the brand's future mass-produced products.
Such a new change in the design language will inevitably break the inherent impression of Infiniti products in the past and bring freshness. But at the same time, its core has not changed at all, and it has consistently conveyed the independent aesthetic and independent development concept very clearly.
In this way, we can attract consumers who are truly in tune with Infiniti's soul and ultimately rely on working with them to gain a new competitive advantage for the brand in the entire market.
Judging from the current market environment and the situation of the Infiniti brand, this is obviously the most suitable path for the continuous improvement and benign development of the brand.
Go your own way and stick to it
As mentioned before, although the mainstream luxury has entered the new energy vehicle market, the entire market pattern is still chaotic.
For anyone, it takes constant investment first, followed by persistence in long-termism.
And for Infiniti, who have always liked to assert themselves, this is undoubtedly their best field.
Infiniti has embarked on a long-term plan for "Ambition 2030", in which they aim to achieve more than 50% of their global sales to electrified models by 2030. The Chinese market is undoubtedly the best soil for this plan.
The launch of "Vision Qe" is undoubtedly aimed at mass production, and the technology and design language of the product are reserved.
Of course, in the competition in the market, after all, it must fall on how to promote products and sales-oriented, practical channel construction.
In terms of mass-produced products, in fact, Infiniti also has its own actions.
For example, Infiniti has already unveiled a new generation of the QX80 based on the QX Monograph concept. According to Xin Yu, during the launch of the QX80 in North America, the entire public opinion environment in the Chinese market released quite friendly and recognizing comments. And Infiniti is also actively preparing to introduce this model into China.
In the existing product line, Infiniti launched the 2024 QX60 and QX50 models, actively participating in market competition and maintaining the vitality of the brand.
At the same time, as new products continue to be introduced to the market, Infiniti is free to reorganize and strengthen the brand's entire dealer system.
In 2023, Infiniti has strengthened the empowerment of dealers, so that most dealers have achieved profitability. For such a market that Infiniti is in a dormant and rebuilding period, it is obviously a very good start to achieve dealer profitability.
In addition, Infiniti has also better reached users by deepening digital marketing and cross-border cooperation. In addition to its own excellent products, it also relies on a variety of channels such as sound, fragrance, vision, and art design to enhance users' memory points and build a new brand experience.
Overall, such a brand building model is in line with Infiniti's current situation, and at the same time, the unhurried progress also highlights Infiniti's brand tonality. Of course, the end result must be the steady emergence of new technologies and new products, the continued profitability of the market, and the orderly expansion of market share.
At the same time, if we can meet the needs of niche users, and continue to spread to the surrounding user groups based on this group of niche users, we have basically achieved all the favorable conditions that Infiniti needs to build before the completion of the 2030 plan.
Therefore, it is extremely necessary to adhere to it today, and it is to lay a solid foundation for the long-term development of the brand in the future.
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At the ongoing 2024 Beijing Auto Show, Infiniti released a clear signal.
In this signal, the product, the corporate strategy, and all the details of the real engagement with the user are included. Of course, this also includes how Infiniti operates and how it practices the long-termist philosophy.
As Jose Roman, President of Infiniti, said, they will move forward with determination towards a new dawn and extend the infinite road to the horizon. The global brand refresh in June last year ushered in a new dawn for Infiniti. In 2024, they will continue to strengthen Infiniti's brand image from multi-dimensional senses, continue to improve the user experience, and focus on promoting the reinvention of new products.
This poetic and very pragmatic mode of expression is undoubtedly the best presentation of Infiniti's entire brand temperament.
And the even better news is obviously that the constant reshuffle of the market is fair to anyone, including Infiniti. With unique product competitiveness, its own independent aesthetics, a clear target audience, and a firm commitment to the Chinese market, it is expected that a unique and charming brand like Infiniti will receive better market feedback.