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Lancia and Infiniti ­- the prestige party gets crowded in '08

Date: 04 October 2007   |   Author: Tristan Young Guy Bird

Fast forward to 12 months from now and two new upmarket brands will be taking on the likes of BMW, Mercedes and Audi - Italian Lancia and Nissan's luxury brand Infiniti

Lancia

Upmarket Fiat Group brand Lancia will return to the UK in autumn 2008 with a new large hatchback-cum-estate called Delta, named after the iconic rally-bred hot hatch of the 1980s and early 90s.

The new Delta HPE (High Performance Estate) is launched in continental Europe next May, with right-hand drive versions due in the UK by October. The car is loosely based on the Fiat Bravo floor pan, but is bigger with similar proportions to an Astra estate (4.5m long, 1.8m wide and 1.5m high). It will also be the launch model to re-establish Lancia in the UK 14-years after the Italians pulled out after gaining a reputation for poor reliability.

The production car should stay pretty true to the Delta HPE concept shown at Paris 2006 with its large, sporty five-door hatchback profile and Volvo C30-esque smoked glass rear window. The long 2.7m wheelbase should allow for superb interior space that's kitted out in a more luxurious way than workaday Fiats, with five flexible seats that split-fold and recline in the back.

Other right-hand drive Lancias will follow. First will be the next generation Ypsilon - essentially a luxury supermini - based on the Grande Punto rather than the current model's Punto roots. Other models to arrive after that could include the next generation Musa (a Fiat Idea-derived supermini-MPV).

A Lancia spokesman told BusinessCar at the Frankfurt motor show that the brand is only seeking small 'incremental sales' for the UK for now, which will be handled exclusively by sister brand Alfa Romeo's newly appointed, higher standard UK dealers. Expect?Delta prices to start at the top end of the Fiat Bravo range - so £15,000 and upward.

Infiniti

If you regard Nissan's Infiniti as a rival to Toyota's Lexus you'll be most of the way to understanding its position in the UK market when it arrives in 2008.

Nissan's previous foray into the executive market was not successful. The QX never sold more than a handful of cars and was cursed with monster depreciation, which is why the Japanese firm's next attempt at capturing prestige sales will be as far removed from Nissan as possible.

The official launch plan will be revealed next month, one year ahead of the cars going on sale in the UK.

"We'll launch city by city across Europe and we'll be using one [as yet unnamed] dealer group in the UK, but not Pendragon," said an Infiniti spokesman, referring to the unsuccessful Pendragon-controlled UK launch of GM's Cadillac brand.

Infiniti's outlets will be separate from Nissan's, with a handful of dealers on the main arterial routes into the UK's major cities.

"Online will be a large part of what we do, too," said the spokesman. "For instance, we'll have the best car configurator."

The Japanese premium brand will launch with four models. First in the range will be the G saloon, which rivals the Lexus IS and BMW 3-series, although it is fractionally larger than both. There will also be a G coupe to go head-to-head with the Audi A6 and 3-series coupe. Both G series models are powered by a V6 petrol engine producing more than 300PS.

Two off-roaders will be available at launch: the EX and FX. The EX is expected to go up against the Lexus RX while the larger FX is a rival of the BMW X5. Again both models will use the V6 petrol, however the FX will also be available with a V8 petrol engine.

"There will be 80 outlets across Europe, and outside Russia [where the brand launched in September 2006] the UK will be the biggest European market," said the Infiniti spokesman.

Infiniti has yet to talk sales predictions, but volumes aren't expected to be big. Instead the marque will concentrate on keeping residuals high.

The spokesman explained: "We're hoping to appeal to business drivers and get good RVs due to the small volumes we'll sell.

"The grey [unofficial] import market has been helping us with awareness, and there's also a small pool of customers wanting the new cars who have Infiniti imports at the moment," said the spokesman.

While pricing is not likely to be set any time soon, Infiniti has said it will mirror BMW's, so the G coupe will be "very similar to the 330Ci, but it will have more kit and power".



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