Infiniti is the FASTEST growing car brand in the UK – and big sales jump in Europe

Infiniti looks to be making progress in Europe with the launch of the new Q30 boosting sales, and UK sales making it the fastest growing brand.

It was 2009 when Infiniti arrived in Europe to try and carve out a niche as, perhaps, the sporty alternative to Lexus, with Nissan’s luxury arm aiming to grab some upmarket sales on the wealthy European continent.

Sadly, Infiniti managed to launch themselves in to the UK and Europe at exactly the same time as the economy went in to recession, and luxury car makers struggled to make sales.

But Infiniti has persevered, and the recent launch of the Q30 and QX30 has finally given Infiniti a car with a wider appeal – and a lower price point – and that’s starting to show in the numbers.

Infiniti has had record sales in both March and the first quarter of 2016, with 3,900 cars sold in Western Europe in March – up 232 per cent on 2015 – and 6,000 sales in the first quarter, a three-fold increase on the previous year.

In the UK, Infiniti is now the fastest growing car brand – from an admittedly fairly low starting point – with a 153 per cent month on month increase in March and a 125 per cent growth year on year.

The reason for the jump is, in the main, down to the new Infiniti Q30 which went on sale at the start of 2016, with first quarter sales of 1,000 in the UK and significant sales in France, Germany and Italy, although the QX50 did its bit too with 1,300 sales in Q1.

It seems the new Q30 is helping Infiniti turn a corner, and it’s a credible first effort at a compact premium car, as we discovered last week when Infiniti sent us one to play with.

Infiniti Q30 1.6t Premium review next week.