Today it's no secret that Infiniti is a division of Nissan. Exactly the same as Toyota's Lexus and Honda's Acura. Actually, this eternally competing trinity appeared almost simultaneously and in one place - the United States of America.

But the first was still Acura. Entry into the largest market was competent and large-scale. The first thing that the Japanese did from Honda was to build a plant right on the spot, instantly reducing production and logistics costs. And although the Acura models were technically similar to the Honda cars, from a design point of view, they differed quite a lot. And later Acura began to develop, produce and offer Americans exclusive models that are only in the USA and are made specifically for this country.

Lexus came a little later. The plant was not built, but offered America three models at once. All of them were "left-handed" versions of expensive versions of Toyota for the domestic Japanese market, so that the cost of their development and adaptation was minimized. By the way, in terms of luxury and the number of options, some Toyota models then surpassed even Mercedes.

What about Infiniti? In order not to lose a tidbit of a huge market, Nissan from the beginning of the 80s also started creating its own premium brand. And in 1989, at the Detroit Auto Show, the result was presented to the American public - a large Infiniti Q45 sedan, in the development of which Nissan invested a lot of money.

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As a result, the Q45 sedan became the first and last Infiniti model, which was developed from scratch. All other cars of the new brand were built on the basis of existing Nissan models, that is, they were slightly “turned” copies of them.

The Japanese managed to show a special marketing “daring” in 1990, when the G20 “premium sedan” was presented to the public, which was nothing more than an ordinary Nissan Primera with a re-glued badge and a leather-trimmed interior. Surprisingly, the model lasted until 2002, having survived two generations. In pursuit of the Primera, two more ordinary Nissan models, the Maxima and Pathfinder, are sent to the American market almost unchanged, which received the names Infiniti I30 and QX4, respectively.

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The most interesting thing is that the Americans, accustomed to buying the same Ford under the guise of either Mercury or Lincoln, and their beloved Dodge, either Chrysler or Plymouth, have accepted these rules of the game. And even allowed Infiniti to gain a foothold in the US market. Moreover, local automotive organizations and publications regularly awarded Infiniti with various awards, usually in the field of quality and service.

The apogee was 1999, when the same model I30 (aka Maxima) was recognized as the best car in America. Coincidence or not, but in the same year, Nissan, which has long been in a deep financial crisis, is redeemed by the French Renault, and one of the best top managers in the world, Carlos Ghosn, becomes the head of the newly formed Renault-Nissan alliance.

Since the beginning of the 2000s, Infiniti's model policy has not changed: the company still offers its customers essentially top-end Nissan equipment, in which Americans are fading. A surge in buying and manufacturing activity came with the introduction of the FX crossover, Infiniti's most popular model of all time, to the range.

In addition, in order to increase the share of sales, the Japanese brand is entering the international market by opening its representative offices in South Korea, China, Russia and, finally, Europe.

During the recent rebranding, all models of the brand were renamed - now cars are denoted by the letter Q, crossovers - QX, and the numbers following the letter indices do not indicate the engine size, as before, but symbolize the size and class of Infiniti models.

To date, eight models of the brand are presented in Russia: two sedans, three crossovers, one SUV, a coupe and a convertible. The main sales are exclusively for the QX50 and QX70 crossovers, and also to a much lesser extent - the QX60 and QX80. Everything else is sold individually.

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For eight years of presence on the market, Infiniti has not been able to compete with other premium brands represented in Russia. The localization of production in St. Petersburg did not save either. Not so long ago, in June 2014, the assembly of cars was curtailed.

According to the latest sales statistics, Infiniti, although ranked sixth among premium brands, is in the tail of popular brands. The "sworn enemy" Lexus sells twice as well, not to mention the brands Mercedes, BMW and Audi, each of which outsell its own by 4-6 times.

By and large, in Russia, Infiniti cars are in demand among such rebel buyers who buy them in defiance of Mercedes and BMWs, which have clogged the traffic flow.

In America, for which the Infiniti brand was created, the brand's annual sales regularly exceed the 100,000 mark, although this is only the 23rd line in American statistics. Moreover, the parent concern Nissan is in fifth place with a result that is ten times higher than that of Infiniti.