Why Infiniti and Lexus are Japanese, and *not* American
A little while back I came across a couple of patriots who thought Lexus and Infiniti are American, but they’re not, and here’s why:
- Luxury Divisions
Lexus is a luxury division for Toyota, Infiniti for Nissan, so why was Infiniti not for sale in Japan until the Q50 came around? Because when Nissan made/sold the R35, they confirmed they were killing off the Skyline, that means not the R series would be continued only as to known in the further future as the GT-R and the cheaper coupes and saloons as Infiniti’s,
- Origin
Both Lexus and Infiniti are made in Japan, founded by Japanese people, built in Japanese factories in Japan… Japanese enough?
So why do people think Lexus and Infiniti are American?
Because the country in which Infiniti and Lexus sold best was the U.S, but they never were intended only for the U.S, rather for the Western market, the Lexus IS for instance was sold globally, US, AU, EU, UK, Japan. the American version however featured a 3.5l engine rather than a 2.5l engine and a different emission label. And the only difference between the Nissan Skyline 370 and Infiniti G37 is also, the emission label, because the Skyline is more pollutive since it follows Japanese emission regulations (to make it cheaper) and the G37 follows American regulations (because of how often they’re sold in the U.S.).
Comments
Same reason why some people think Ford Falcon’s and Escort’s and such are American. Just because it has the a name from one country, doesn’t mean all of its vehicles are from the same country.
however, in order for the UK and AU divisions to exsist, someone from Ford USA had to make said headquarters and assign locals and natives in order for them to work. So no, since their founders were American and it started as an American company (Ford co.) Ford AU and Ford UK are American companies
Btw Acura is still American, and the NSX was made as an American Honda product
Though Acura is meant ONLY for the US market, the NSX was developed, designed and built in Honda’s factory in Japan, and the person responsible for setting up Acura also was Japanese, and it was set up in Japan, and Acura is also a Japanese name, just like Lexus and Infiniti, so no. Acura is still Japanese
It’s not just the NSX, every other new Acura is made in America. So it’s pretty much USDM.
I think of them like datsun. Just alternative brands so nissan can get as much coverage without making a zillion nissan models.
Yeah, Nissan has 4 divisions just to make extra money and pay less.