Infiniti will launch in Australia in the second half of 2012 and one of Australia's most successful F1 drivers may be called upon to give the brand a leg up as an ambassador. But there are other possibilities too.
Speculation concerning an ultra-high performance Infiniti bearing some form of Red Bull F1 badging, perhaps from its Infiniti Performance Line (IPL), is just that, speculation. But Nissan Australia's managing director, Dan Thompson, said we can expect the relationship to become cosier in 2012.
"It's a global sponsorship at this stage," states Thompson, who added that Infiniti has "...every intention of trying to make much more out of the partnership and relationship going forward."
Nissan's sister company Renault has made good use of its F1 ties with several special edition hot hatches in the past, but Thompson wouldn't be drawn on whether an Infiniti car would leverage its Red Bull Racing F1 links.
"At this stage it's sort of a three-way discussion between Red Bull, Renault and Infiniti and I suspect before the end of the two year relationship we'll have a greater involvement with Red Bull."
Nissan and Infiniti fans may be hoping for a Porsche-slaying Red Bull Racing-inspired sports car in the near future, perhaps based on the exotic Infiniti Essence concept, but as Thompson explains the F1 tie-up is also about fleshing out what Infiniti stands for.
"We think it's a good way to position Infiniti. Even internally, it helps us understand who we are. With Infiniti we say 'Inspired Performance', that's what we want to be about, but how do we understand what that means? Every company wants inspired performance and design and innovation, so we think it's helpful to get aligned with another strong global brand, especially when they're quite provocative and quite different than the norm. They're not afraid to challenge.
"Where is there a space that Infiniti can own here, that Australians will appreciate that is different? That's why we're taking a very different look at how we're launching Infiniti. How do we make it stand out (in Australia) - it's not easy with 65 automotive brands to differentiate yourself."
Infiniti has a lot of work ahead of it to convince premium car buyers to switch over to the new, practically unknown marque in the second half of 2012. But seeing Mark Webber behind the wheel of an Infiniti in Australia could be a direct way of getting people to think about the new brand in a different way. So perhaps we'll see Mark Webber dropping burnouts on Australian soil behind the wheel of an Infiniti luxury car in March 2012.
And for the record "Mark Webber already drives an Infiniti," Thompson teased.
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