Gasgoo.com (Shanghai July 23) - Infiniti China Managing Director Daniel Kirchert is confident that the Japanese brand can succeed in the Chinese luxury vehicle market. In a report appearing in the Guangzhou Daily today, Dr. Kirchert stated that "the Chinese luxury automobile market will still continue develop in the future."
Currently 78 percent of the country's luxury automobile market is controlled by BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. Sales growth rates for the market have slowed down from the past few years, when average yearly rates reached 41 percent, to a predicted 13.8 percent for this year. However, Dr. Kirchert is still optimistic that there is still a lot of development potential in the country, predicting luxury automobile sales this year to reach 1.41 million units. He also added that the Chinese market is still relatively immature, with consumers lacking the sort of brand loyalty seen in other markets. Therefore, he believes there are still a slew of new opportunities for non-German luxury brands to take advantage of.
According to Dr. Kirchert, Infiniti's biggest development opportunity lies in how its domestic production plans progress. The manufacturer will begin manufacturing its vehicles in the country next year, with the Q50 and QX50 to be its first domestically produced models. Meanwhile, Infiniti's global headquarters will be relocated to Hong Kong, making it the only multinational manufacturer to be based in China.
