An Infiniti compact sedan will be the first vehicle produced at Daimler and Renault-Nissan’s new plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
The car will be built there beginning in 2017, said Andy Palmer, Nissan’s global planning director and Infiniti chairman. Palmer was interviewed at a Formula One race here.
The Infiniti sedan will be based on the new generation of the MFA architecture being co-developed by Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz.
Vehicles will be exported to the United States, Europe and China.
Sources have told Reuters that Infiniti will build three models at the plant including a sedan, a coupe and a compact crossover likely to replace the slightly larger QX50 model.
Building cars in Mexico allows Mercedes and Infiniti to avoid some currency and tariff costs that crimp profits on vehicles exported to the United States from overseas. Mexico also offers lower labor rates than Germany, Japan and the United States.
The partners plan to spend $1.36 billion to construct the 50-50 joint-venture plant in Aguascalientes, which will yield 300,000 vehicles a year.
