Infiniti sales growing in sluggish market

Dongfeng Infiniti President Daniel Kirchert and Executive Vice-President Lei Xin celebrate the first anniversary of the joint venture earlier this month. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Kirchert said jujiang represent a spirit of continuous focus and challenge to offer their customers outstanding quality and experience as well as Infiniti's commitment to long-term, sustainable development in China.

Lei Xin, executive vice-president of Dongfeng Infiniti, said the automaker's growing sales network is another major contributor to the brand's rapid growth in the country.

"Dealers are our strategic partners and we would like to extend our confidence to more and more investors," said Lei.

He said the brand now has 98 dealerships in China and that number is expected to reach 100 within the year.

'True partners'

"We see our dealers as true partners and we see them as our customers," Kirchert said. "We listen to them and we maintain good and healthy relations."

He said that cooperation is an example of Infiniti's human-centric philosophy since its establishment in 1989.

Through its dealers, Infiniti is offering a warranty of four years or 100,000 kilometers on all its models, cutting the cost of car ownership.

The automaker has also formed a social community for Infiniti car owners on a digital platform that offers tips on car use and enables people to book maintenance. It has attracted more than 43,000 members since its establishment a year ago.

Infiniti continues its sponsorship of the reality show The Amazing Race II to extend the carmaker's spirit of Gan Ai, or dare to love.

In contrast to traditional sponsors of such shows, Infiniti took part in the production of the show from beginning to end, including planning, choosing the celebrity participants, filming and editing.

Thus far, views of the show on the Internet have reached 910 million, and page views for the topic on Sina Weibo reached 4.3 billion, leaving the show the most popular one among weekend reality shows.

The company also provides a fund of 5 million yuan ($785,325) to the show so the winners can help more people in need.

Infiniti launched its Gan Ai Planet project in 2014. The carmaker has since attracted more than 20 million yuan in donations for the project, which has benefited more than 15,000 families with children with autism and helped build 217 kindergartens in four poor counties in mountain areas.