Infiniti Looks to Increase Sales 50 Percent with New Expansion Plan

Washington DC June 28, 2005; The AIADA newsletter reported that ”Nissan Motor Co. is aiming to increase its sales of Infiniti cars and trucks by more than 50%, to 200,000 vehicles a year over the next five to seven years, by boosting the number of stores and expanding the sales and service capacity of its 177 existing outlets,” reports The Wall Street Journal.

“Mark Igo, head of the Infiniti division in the U.S. and a vice president of Nissan’s American sales unit in Gardena, Calif., said the top end of Nissan’s "five-, six-, seven-year" plan with the Infiniti division calls for increasing the number of dealers in the U.S. to 200 and having each of those outlets sell on average up to 1,000 vehicles a year.”

According to Journal, “Infiniti sales could reach 200,000 vehicles a year, up from the 131,000 vehicles it sold in 2004.” A few examples of how dealers are implementing the new plan... “In Sacramento, Mr. Igo said, a dealer relocated his Volvo store to make room for his Infiniti franchise. Some are building multistory parking decks to make room for more repair and maintenance bays in the service shops and are moving back-office functions off site to expand showrooms, while others have introduced two shifts for mechanics to expand service capacity and stay open late, until midnight in some cases, Mr. Igo said.”

More from the Journal: “Nissan figured each Infiniti store needed to sell close to 1,000 vehicles a year to generate $2.5 million to $3 million in profit -- a level of return Mr. Igo believes dealers need to achieve to make the kind of re-investment Nissan wants them to make to keep their sales and service facilities updated.”