Infiniti switches to green positioning

Luxury car brand Infiniti is to launch its first electric car as part of a move to combine high performance with a new green positioning, a switch that comes as research reveals that car marques could quadruple sales of eco cars by targeting high-end consumers.

Infiniti

The luxury Japanese car brand is preparing to unveil its electric concept car Infiniti Emerg-e in a bid to align its luxury positioning with environmental motoring.

Infiniti has ambitious growth plans to sell 100,000 cars in Europe by 2016, up from 5,000 last year and part of its expansion strategy hinges on the development of greener electric and hybrid vehicles that maintain the power and performance of traditional luxury vehicles.

The Emerg-e model will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March and will be streamed live via Facebook. A pan-European digital campaign using the strapline “Be there when inspiration strikes” has been developed by TMW to encourage consumers to watch the “big reveal” on Facebook.

Wayne Bruce, European communications director, says: “Technology makes it easier to marry environment and performance and we want drivers to be able to enjoy the performance of a luxury car without feeling guilty. The concept car isn’t a vehicle that’s currently available to buy, but it’s a brand exploration of what high performance means to Infiniti.

“We want to communicate that it’s about having a clear conscience so we’re replacing the aural sensation of powerful engines with visual sensations like lights.”

Infiniti is also preparing a year long marketing, experiential and PR campaign under the banner “silence is the new vroom” to promote the luxury appeal of high performance vehicle

Car marques could quadruple sales of green vehicles by targeting high-end consumers with marketing for environmental cars, rather than “traditional environmentalists”, according to a survey by GfK.

GfK surveyed 3,000 UK motorists and found that by the nature of the journeys they make by car and the amount they are willing to spend, luxury car owners are the best audience to target with green messaging for eco vehicles.

It claims that younger, environmentally-conscious urban families driving premium cars are four times more likely than the overall population to buy electric models as they have an above average interest in environmentally-friendly vehicles and are less resistant to hybrid and electric cars.

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