Infiniti M45 and Q45 sales dismal

Infiniti M45 and Q45 sales dismal

Its G35 sedan and coupe are selling strongly, and the just-launched crossover FX45 and FX35 sport wagons are making a dent in the high end of the SUV market. But sales of the marque's flagship sedans are going nowhere.

Infiniti sales through April are up 33.3 percent to 35,176 units, a strong showing from last year's record numbers. But the gains are entirely coming from the G35 and FX sport wagons.

The previous volume leader, the entry-luxury I35 sedan derived from the old Nissan Maxima, has been mostly supplanted by the G35, and its sales are off by half this year. What's more, sales of Infiniti's premium Q45 and M45 sedans are limping along far below projected levels.

When the M45 was introduced last fall, the division wanted to sell 12,000 units annually, in addition to at least 10,000 copies of the Q45, which was redesigned in spring 2001. But those targets seem pipe dreams, as neither one seems capable of selling more than a few hundred units a month.

For the four months through April, Q45 sales are off 41 percent from a year earlier to 818 units. Sales of the M totaled just 1,347 units in the same period.

A top executive admits Infiniti miscalculated the M45 launch. Infiniti already had won a massive media presence launching the G35 and FX45, and figured that word-of-mouth would sell the M45. Wrong.

Infiniti plans to redesign the M45 just two years from now. (Two years can't come soon enough!)

Auto Spies Perspective: So the guys at Infiniti say the reason the M45 isn't selling because they haven't marketed it that well...ARE YOU KIDDING? The reason it's not selling is because IT'S THE MOST HIDEOUS LOOKING CAR WE'VE SEEN IN A LONG TIME!!!! WHO WAS THE BRAINIAC THAT OK'ed THAT ONE! IT'S GOT THE PERSONALITY OF A SMALL SOAP DISH. SHOULD WE GO ON? The Q45 on the other hand is a very nice vehicle that is caught up in a combination of things.

1. It's good looking, not great looking (that hasn't stopped Lexus from selling cars though) :)
2. Could it be, that sedans are just becoming obsolete, old fogey cars?
3. The front headlights hurt the image of the car.
4. If you're going to build a high end sedan, it should have a long wheelbase, like the S and 745Li.
5. The only thing memorable on the car are the headlights and the rear view camera.
6. People expected better performance from the engine...it should have beat the E55 for $20K less.

We're also make a guess (pure speculation on our part, but we think it's true), that over the last few years during the transition, there was infighting between the Japanese and Southern California design groups. We're pretty sure though, that EVERY car that came out of the La Jolla studios has been a winner so far and the ones from Japan, are the ones taking gas.

Well, in this game, sales dictate everything.

So if you're designer in Socal for Nissan/Infiniti, you've proved your point.

The Spies will venture to guess, now that the sales numbers are in, future US bound models, will ALL be designed in Socal.

Source: Automotive News- Click here to read the full article