New Infiniti Chief To Distance Brand From Nissan And Become More Audi Like

Nice article to read... before people start a pissing contest between Infiniti and Audi, they should actually read this article...

Why choose when one can piss on both of them ;) J/K, J/K. Or maybe not...

IMHO Infiniti has a lot of potential and there are two main areas they need to improve in order to harness it:
--> Styling. Ten years ago Infinity made a leap and had a huge success with the FX. They need one now as none of their current models have an identity that is recognizable.
--> Refinement. Infiniti vehicles have a worthy performance, but they also scream of being overpriced muscle cars. They need better interiors, drop the grandpa analog clock, and invest some money in those exhaust systems.

Among the German competitors Audi is supposed to be the car for the more intelligent driver. To a large degree they achieve that, but as a result their cars are also devout of personality and passion. The Audi brand is not VW, it should not aim to make cars for the widest possible audience. Instead it should recognize its strengths and double down on those. Iron-clad interiors, superb handling with Quattro, brilliant designs with the TT, the A5 and the R8, and the ability to connect with the driver only surpassed by the more expensive and much less attractive BMW.

I found it interesting the using the word VW was banned at Audi. It really allowed them to shed that umbrella of ownership. Lexus is attempting to do the same from Toyota.

Interestingly, though, there was a recent article suggesting that VW may be threatening that independence. I wonder if that helped de Nysschen make up his mind to go to Infiniti.

From the article:

A joke is making the rounds at Volkswagen Group about Audi, the automaker's premium brand. If someone mentions the phrase "Audi executives," another person says, "Are there still Audi executives?'' – and gets lots of laughs.

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20120904/BLOG15/309049902#ixzz25f6u5Hof

good