Infiniti to produce new compact model in Europe

The Japanese based automaker Infiniti is planning to produce a compact model which will be assembled in Europe.

Nissan’s luxury brand Infiniti wants a piece of the pie in the premium compact car on the Old Continent and with models like the ones made by Mercedes-Benz, Volvo or BMW already on the market, Infiniti couldn’t stay aside. The company’s executive vice president, Colin Dodge, has recently announced that the Infiniti compact model will be produced in Sunderland, at the Nissan facility, in the United Kingdom. The model will share the same MFA platform found on the new A-Class and B-Class made by Mercedes-Benz and production will start in 2015.

The new Infiniti compact model will be based on the Etherea concept car and the Nissan facility will produce around 60,000 units annually of the new model annually. In order to produce the new compact car in Sunderland, Nissan will invest 250 million pounds in the plant and this will also add 1,000 new jobs in the UK, out of which 280 will be at the factory. Besides sharing the same platform with the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, the new Infiniti compact car will also “borrow” the engine lineup from the German model and it will be the first front-wheel drive made by Nissan’s premium brand.

Source: Autocar