Infiniti's China-made Q50L rolls out

China manufactured long-wheelbase sports luxury sedan Infiniti Q50L comes off the production line in Dongfeng Nissan's Xiangyang plant in Hubei province. [Photo / Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Expansion in premium segment

Kirchert has set Infiniti's 2018 annual sales target at 100,000 units, and hopes more than a half of the sales volume is from local produced models.

About 78 percent of Chinese luxury car market by volume is contributed by German brands, including Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Infiniti's sales volume in Chinese mainland reached 20,787 in the first nine months, more than the whole year sales in 2013. The sales surged 91 percent year-on-year, realizing the highest growth rate among the luxury car brands in China.

In August Last year, Kirchert, as managing director of Infiniti China, said his target is to alter the market pattern, and the key is the brand. In October, the Infiniti SUVs started to appear in a popular TV reality show Dad, where are you going? The show introduced QX60 SUV to the public and boosted its sales.

Infiniti unveiled in January this year its latest brand concept Gan Ai, meaning dare to love. In July, the carmaker started the co-production of another TV reality show The Amazing Race, and use Q50 2.0T in the show to let consumers participate in the show and experience the products.

Dongfeng Infiniti will independently operate the Infiniti brand, both imported and locally produced models under the principles of "One Strategy, One Brand, One Team, One Channel" to achieve corporate growth, according to Kirchert.

Infiniti is set to expand its sales network to 80 dealerships by the year-end, from about 60 at the beginning of this year. In future the new venture will increase 20 dealerships each year.