Nissan Says It Made Lots Of "Mistakes" With Infiniti

Infiniti, like Nissan, is looking to rebuild. This week in Japan, Nissan unveiled its plans for the future, including a new GT-R, a new Xterra, and a greatly simplified lineup of new models. Infiniti is part of this plan, as Nissan's luxury arm (a la Toyota and Lexus). Right now, Infinit's lineup is comprised of three models, one of which hasn't hit dealers yet. Simply put, the brand is on life support. Speaking to Motor1, Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa said that "there were many mistakes" made with Infiniti.

To turn the brand around, the CEO says it can't make "wild bets" like the ones it has made in the past with Infiniti. The CEO outlined a few mistakes, such as developing a dedicated vehicle architecture for the brand's models and setting a very ambitious eight-million-unit sales goal per year. These missed targets and missing consumer demand made it difficult for Nissan to invest in Infiniti because it was "not in good shape."

Espinosa wants to move Infiniti away from its dedicated platform, saying he wants to "differentiate the cars smartly" by blending "the right level of technology, the right visual differentiation, and a better experience overall in the car.” For all this to work, Infiniti also has to expand to at least five models. Right now, a total of seven are planned, including a sports sedan that'll be a rebadge version of the upcoming Nissan Skyline that'll be sold in Japan. That will pack a rear-wheel drive layout and a manual transmission, likely shared with the Nissan Z.

Sharing will be part of the plan for Infiniti in the future. During its Japan press conference, Nissan said it will cut down the number of platforms its cars ride on in half by 2035. Infiniti will no doubt be using these platforms, and other Nissan bits like powertrains and tech, in its upcoming models. Just how good those are, and whether it's enough to keep Nissan relevant, will have to wait.