Automotive News - February 4, 2008 - (Page 10) 10 • FEBRUARY 4, 2008 Nissan’s Q&A for dealers: To Q or not to Q? Lindsay Chappell lchappell@crain.com Infiniti dealer Peter Wilson optimistically believes that his brand will receive a new flagship to replace the Q45, which ended in 2006. “We know something will come,” says Wilson, owner of Infiniti of Orlando, Fla., and incoming chairman of Infiniti’s national dealer advisory council. “We just don’t know what it will look like.” But someone else isn’t so sure: Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan Motor Co. Ghosn remains undecided over whether to build a new-generation Q. He recently told journalists he is “not convinced” Infiniti needs a flagship replacement. Ghosn is challenging managers to prove that Infiniti needs a new high-end, low-volume car. Unlike the Q45, which ended production in 2006, any new Infiniti flagship would have to appeal to retailers across the globe. Mark Igo, general manager of Infiniti Division in North America, is one of those who is trying to make the case for a new Q. “I’m convinced it will help make the brand better,” Igo says, “but we have to show that we will make money on it. That is how this company works. We can’t just go in and say we need an expensive car.” The base sticker price of the 2006 Q45 was $58,750 in the United States. The brand’s current top-of-the-line car, the M45, starts at $50,065. Both prices include destination charges. The real challenge to revive the Q: American Infiniti retailers are no longer the only people who would sell the Q. Any new flagship would have to please retailers globally. In early January, Infiniti retailers from around the world met with Ghosn at Nissan’s global r&d center in Atsugi, Japan, to discuss the Q. The meeting included Infiniti dealers from Korea, China, Russia and the United States. The dealers were shown powertrain and transmission options for the car and asked for their expectations of the car. But the exercise illustrated a troublesome point: Infiniti dealers in different countries don’t necessarily want the same thing from the low-volume car. In some markets, Igo says, the sedan would be used primarily as a limousine. That was not an issue for the last Q. Until 2006, Infiniti was a U.S.-only luxury brand. The automaker is now opening Infiniti dealerships in multiple markets, including China and Russia. Infiniti sales will launch this year in several European markets. Says Igo: “We told dealers beforehand, ‘Look, you guys need to find some common ground on this question.’ ”c 2 Chrysler plants offer models for global alliances David Barkholz and Bradford Wernle dbarkholz@crain.com Chrysler’s Toledo Supplier Park and Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance are templates for the way Chrysler LLC may do business with global partners, says Frank Ewasyshyn, the company’s manufacturing chief. Chrysler saved tens of millions of dollars by having its partners invest in the two plants and their products, Ewasyshyn said. What’s more, partners helped bring in technology that has improved Chrysler’s sales. Three suppliers build a majority of each four- and two-door Jeep Wrangler produced at the Toledo Supplier Park. Kuka AG makes the bodies, Magna International Inc. paints them, and Hyundai Mobis builds the chassis. Chrysler joined Hyundai Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. in the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance to develop a four-cylinder global engine whose horsepower can be easily modified higher or lower. The engines are built at several plants around the world, including one in Dundee, Mich., between Detroit and Toledo, Ohio. Chrysler expects to draw on the experience of the Toledo and Dundee plants as it searches for partners to expand overseas and find new component vendors, Ewasyshyn said. “It’s pretty clear that the strategy of joint ventures and partners is the way it’s going,” Ewasyshyn said. “But if you go back and look at our Toledo experience and the other things we’ve done, we’re well-positioned to handle those future (overseas) relationships.” In January, Chrysler appointed Scott Garberding to a vice president position to pursue global alliances. It also reorganized global product development to expand product engineering in China, India, eastern Europe and Mexico. Ewasyshyn said the Toledo Supplier Park has exceeded Chrysler’s production expectations. That’s a measure of how flexibly the suppliers at the plant have operated, he said. Of Toledo, Ewasyshyn said: “It was not intended to be a pilot for international joint ventures, but it does help you understand the whole process.”c http://www.guidepointsystems.com http://www.guidepointsystems.com
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