Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website Looking back, looking ahead: INFINITI marks birthday with brand origin series to reveal founding principles
novembre 08, 2021 - Infiniti

Looking back, looking ahead: INFINITI marks birthday with brand origin series to reveal founding principles

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

Nashville, Tenn. — Thirty-two years after its beginning as an automaker, #Infiniti today looks back at its daring history as a human-centric brand created to challenge conventions.

An 8-part short film series created with one of the brand’s early architects explores the fundamental tenets of #Infiniti, customer-service philosophies, its early vehicles, and its daring concept as a new luxury automaker. Narrated by Dean #Leathers, one of the brand’s first product specialists in 1986, the series continues INFINITI’s journey toward the horizon as a customer-focused automaker.

“We went into fairly great depth, to define what luxury meant to #people in the United States,” #Leathers says. “And one of the things that kept popping up wasn’t necessarily softer seats, and better air conditioning ... but luxury actually started to be a lot about time.”

In the films, #Leathers relates the origins of the #Infiniti name, logo, and an ownership experience that has since become legendary — and often duplicated by others. As one of the early spokespeople for #Infiniti, #Leathers talks in-depth about the brand’s footing among luxury automakers to treat customers as “honored guests” and infusing Japanese luxury into an American market ready for a new buying and ownership experience.

“From the very beginning, the essence of the brand was #people. Whether it be the customers, or the #people within the division, or the retailers. That was at the heart of everything, was to run a human brand,” #Leathers says.

“If you’re driving a traditional luxury car, you’re fitting the car. We want #Infiniti to fit the person,” he adds.

The series delves into the brand’s first flagship sedan, the #Infiniti Q45, which helped define the automaker’s early identity. Far from a traditional luxury sedan, the Q45 marked INFINITI’s early intentions to create a driver-focused experience with nuance and luxury in its vehicles.

“The #people that loved the Q45, really loved the Q45. They got it. They got what we were trying to do because it was aligned with their sensibilities. They didn’t want to be like everyone else. They didn’t want to buy (a typical luxury car),’” #Leathers says.

When the Q45 first appeared in the U.S., #Leathers remembers INFINITI’s founding member and lead designer Takashi Oka casually throwing him the keys to be among the first to drive the sedan — and quickly reaching triple-digit speeds at a test track at Tochigi in Japan.

Further information in the press release to download