Infiniti aiming to become quality leader among luxury brands

Infiniti says becoming a leader in vehicle quality is fundamental to the brand�??s goal of tripling global sales within five years and establishing itself as a serious player in the luxury market.

Automotive News reports the directive comes from the very top, with the CEO of Infiniti�??s parent company Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, demanding the Japan-based luxury division design and build products to a standard unrivalled by its peers.

Infiniti president Johan de Nysschen said the brand planned to �??disturb the status quo in the premium segment�?� in the coming years as it pushes into new vehicle segments, aims for solid profits and works to improve its quality ratings.

Infiniti senior vice president for quality Shigeaki Kato said a key focus of his team was to lift the brand�??s ranking in the annual JD Power and Associates US Initial Quality Study �?" a leading industry survey that measures owners�?? perceptions of new-vehicle quality after 90 days of ownership.

The company has made steady progress in recent years, rising from ninth to eighth to sixth between 2010 and 2012. Last year�??s result saw Infiniti tie with Honda�??s luxury division, Acura, placing it ahead of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, but trailing Lexus and Jaguar. The 2013 results will be released next month.

Kato admits, however, that Infiniti has a significant amount of work to do to improve its ranking in JD Power�??s US Vehicle Dependability Study, which measures problems experienced by owners of three-year-old vehicles in the past 12 months.

Infiniti slipped from 12^th in 2010 to 14^th the following year, before plummeting to 27^th position last year. While its ranking rose to 20^th with the release of the 2013 data earlier this year, it remains below the industry average.

�??We are not close to the target we have set,�?� Kato told Automotive News.

�??Lexus is undoubtedly No. 1. What we have been doing in terms of quality improvement has not been satisfactory. We realise we have to make a fundamental change in improvement enhancement.�?�

Infiniti�??s three-pronged effort to improve quality involves extending quality controls beyond the assembly line to import docks and dealerships, creating more �??Infiniti Certified Plants�?? that meet standards on more than 100 assembly line processes, and conducting �??Infiniti Mind Training�?? to instil workers with a sense of pride in the quality of their work and advance their hand-eye coordination and motor skills.