The announcement came earlier this morning that Nissan is planning on building their new Infiniti in England to help expand its global market. The Infiniti QX30 compact SUV will be built for global markets — including the U.S. and China — at Nissan’s factory in England, alongside the Infiniti Q30 hatchback. Production of the Q30 will begin in mid-2015 with QX30 output starting shortly after, Infiniti Chairman Andy Palmer said.
Nissan is installing annual production capacity of 60,000 units for the two models at its factory in Sunderland, northeast England. “We plan to supply the Q30 and QX30 globally from Sunderland including to the United States and China,” Palmer said.
The Q30 will be a rival to the Audi A3 and BMW 1 series. Infiniti unveiled a Q30 concept at the 2013 Frankfurt auto show. The Q30 will be mainly targeted at Europe, where there is strong demand for premium compacts.
Palmer also said Infiniti will show a QX30 concept to preview the production model’s design, but he did not give a date for the unveiling. The QX30 will compete against the Audi Q3, BMW X1 and Mercedes-Benz GLA.
Infiniti has not said how much the Q30 and QX30 will cost, but Palmer said they will be aligned with the equivalent offerings from Audi.
The Q30 and QX30 will share a platform and engines with the Mercedes A-class and GLA models. “We are using Mercedes’ MFA vehicle architecture, as well as their 2.0-liter gasoline and diesel engines,” Palmer told Automotive News Europe in an interview on the sidelines of the Formula One world championship race here. The Q30 and QX30 will continue to be a successfully car and Nissans move to build this vehicle in England may help further its reach into the global market.