The Infiniti brand is being pulled out of Europe this year, leaving it heavily reliant on the US and Canadian markets for success. Unfortunately, their outlook in the US is not much better. Like other Japanese automotive luxury brands, Infiniti sales were down in 2019 - except that Infiniti sales were down an astounding 25% in 2019 from 2017 (much worse performance than Acura and Lexus, who also struggled in that same period). Covid-19 will undoubtedly make it even worse for 2020.

Infiniti's lineup is almost all very old designs that don't excite anyone. They offer almost nothing that stands out among its competitive set. The only selling point they have is that their products are cheaper than Lexus, BMW, Cadillac, and even Volvo. The Europeans, Americans, and even the Korean's have made major investments into their luxury cars while Infiniti has basically ignored their lineup.

The only vestige from their high water mark (Introduction of G35 sedan in the early 2000's) is the ancient Q50 sedan. If you are willing to put up with a luxury car that is missing a lot of tech features, you can pick one of these up for a far lower price than a comparable BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Cadillac, or Genesis. The Q50 is the only Infiniti that has the potential for entertaining the driver, which was the primary appeal of the successful G35 sports sedan.

Their hottest selling (and likely most profitable) product is a common feature on rental car lots - and is a ultimately just an unconvincing rebadge of an already disappointing Nissan minivan with a CVT transmission, gritty V6 engine, and the most outdated infotainment system in this market. It costs significantly less than its competitors and there are no plans to significantly improve this car within the next two years.

Infiniti QX60/J35 crossover - wasn't particularly competitive when it came out 8 years ago. It's easily worst in class now, relying on fleet sales and steep discounts to move.

Infiniti Q50 sedan/coupe- this is an 8 year old sedan design that appeals to value minded shoppers. There is an attractive two door coupe variant, but no one buys it. This is probably the only acceptable Infiniti product, and it's not a compelling buy over the competitors.

Infiniti QX80 SUV- now a 10 year old design. It costs about $25,000 less than a comparable Range Rover, Cadillac, or Lincoln full sized luxury SUV - and for that, you lose out on a lot of the common tech features that luxury car buyers demand. The engine also has a disappointing "bolts in a blender" sound quality that's common with Nissan V6 and V8 engines.

The QX50 crossover - Infiniti's latest product, is actually based off of the previous generation Nissan Rogue, complete with a surprisingly decent 4 cylinder engine that's handicapped by an annoying and unreliable CVT. This design dates back to 2017, and is the most up to date product that Infiniti can offer consumers.

Infiniti doesn't currently have a plan to put up the massive investment required to return the brand to success. Their only new models are re-badged Nissan products with CVT transmissions - which are largely rejected in the luxury/high end car market.

What are the chances that Nissan pulls the plug on the entire brand in the US and Canadian markets?