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Infiniti Announces Record Sales for First Half of 2014 Due to Q50 Demand

Nissan's luxury sub-brand Infiniti has just announced record sales figures for the first six month of 2014. During the period between January and June, no less than 101,220 new vehicles were delivered to customers around the world, we demand being especially strong in China and North America.
Infiniti Q50 leads sales 1 photo
Photo: Infiniti
The bulk of the numbers came from the the U.S., where about 60,000 Infinitis were delivered in six months, a 14% increase. In China, which Infiniti is turning into its growth hub, the company sold almost 14,000 vehicles, 130% up compared to a year ago. Like many carmakers, they are tailoring their product to better suit tastes in the China, which has recently become the largest market in the world by volume.

The reason for Infiniti's growth spurt is of course the Q50 sedan, their only all-new product at the moment. About 50,000 units were sold around the world since the launch of the premium sports sedan in 2013. A long wheelbase version of the car is currently being developed for the Chinese customers and will be ready for launch by the end of 2014, together with an extended QX50 SUV.

While the percentage growth registered is very impressive, the Japanese company is still far from its German rivals in terms of outright sales. 886,347 BMWs were sold to date in 2014, over a million if you also include the MINI and Rolls Royce brand. In the same period, Audi shipped 869,350 and Mercedes-Benz managed 783,520 cars.

However, Infiniti has announced plans to completely revamp its lineup and reach 500,000 sales per year by the end of the decade. To achieve this, production will start in China for the local market during 2014, and next year, Infiniti will start production of the Q30 in the UK.

"Infiniti is making significant progress towards its growth plan. We have achieved sales records globally as well as in many individual markets,"
said Johan de Nysschen, President of Infiniti Motor Company Limited. "We continue to transform the organization, strengthen our product portfolio and nurture the brand. This all results in accelerated growth versus the overall premium vehicle market."
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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