Nissan ’s Infiniti luxury brand will face an uphill battle when it launches in nine European markets later this year, but the Japanese automaker is prepared to meet the challenge with a slew of improvements to its current lineup. Instead of just taking its North American lineup to Europe, Infiniti engineers have made 300 to 500 improvements per car for the European market.
Because Infiniti will be going-head-to-head with the likes of Mercedes-Benz and BMW in their home markets, the luxury brand will beef up its lineup with features that European luxury buyers have come to expect. Some of the improvements include knobs instead of push-button controls, more-powerful windshield wiper motors, new stabilizers, bigger brakes, thicker window seals and a new seven-speed automatic transmission, according to Automotive News.
Some Euro-spec Infiniti models will also be powered by larger engines than their U.S. counterparts — a 3.7L V6 instead of a 3.5L unit.
But even with the improvements, Infiniti is not guaranteed success in Europe. The automaker does not offer a four-cylinder engine — a powerplant that makes up 80 percent of the market in Europe — and won’t offer a diesel engine until 2010.
No word if the improvements will be worked into Infiniti’s U.S. lineup.
