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Infiniti expanding lineup by 60% over next five years

Johan de Nysschen had only been at the helm of Infiniti for two years when he left for a position atop Cadillac. But in that time, he indeed left his mark on the brand. Most visibly, there was the drastic Q-ification of the company's vehicle naming strategy, but beyond that were big plans to beef up the Infiniti brand with the goal of making it a fully competitive luxury automaker.
Autoblog spoke with Michael Bartsch, vice president of Infiniti Americas, during Monterey Car Week, and he confirms Infiniti's brand direction is "still exactly as Johan presented it." Over the next five years, the company's portfolio will expand by 60 percent, and that will be aided with additional engine and transmission plants, most notably the recent collaboration with Daimler to build 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engines.
Infiniti's lineup will grow to include eight sedans/coupes and five crossovers/SUVs.

March Madness upsets good for auto advertisers

There are no Cinderella teams left in the NCAA men's basketball tournament - the fairytales ended with Georgia State's loss to Xavier over the weekend. And even though the Sweet 16 is composed of elite teams - at the time of writing the lowest-ranked squad is 11th-seeded UCLA, which has most championships of any school in the country - there are still underdogs and surprises, and they are good for NCAA business and advertisers. Last year the March Madness Live app, which allows users to watch games on the go, was downloaded 4.5 million times, a jump of more than 40 percent over 2013. Buick sponsors the iOS version of the app, but more than a million of those downloads were for the Android version, sponsored by Infiniti since 2011. Part of Buick's engagement is a "Boss Button" on the livestream sites that can quickly mask the page with something your boss won't question you over. It also sponsors a trick-shot competition for fans, has a display in Bracket Town during the Final Four, and its cars lead the team buses through the city. Infiniti said last year's tourney increased online searches for the brand by 25 percent in March, and things are going even better this year: it's round-by-round bracket game drew 477,859 total entries in 2014, this year's game has signed up 534,350 already and the tournament has another two weeks to go. The luxury brand is all over the event, promoting the QX60 through to the Final Four, then moving its efforts to the Q50. It sponsors the Coaches vs. Cancer charity and will have an Infiniti Lounge near the Final Four venue in downtown Indianapolis. So for the two automakers keeping their own scores... come on, Wichita State! Six brackets, six chances to win a trip to #FinalFour 2016. Official rules at http://t.co/4b9GyGJ4wP. #RoundByRound https://t.co/ZCsFatVlja - Infiniti USA (@InfinitiUSA) March 19, 2015 News Source: Automotive News - sub. req. Marketing/Advertising Buick Infiniti app sports ncaa march madness

What happens to Renault-Nissan after Ghosn is gone?

Carlos Ghosn is a very, very busy man. Like, really busy. As in, he heads up three automakers (and their subsidiaries), running facilities in 68 countries and selling vehicles in 170 different markets across the globe. He flies over 300,000 miles per year and works 15 to 16 hours a day, just to manage an alliance between the Japanese and French that's responsible for an expected $140 billion in sales this year alone. The Chairman and CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, Ghosn has managed a number of remarkable feats during his time at both automakers, but there are some that are questioning how much longer the 60-year-old exec can handle the punishing nature of his responsibilities. According to Fortune, six months ago Ghosn signed a four-year contract to continue running Renault, while his tenure at Nissan will continue until at least 2017. Beyond that, though, the future is rather murky, and it's made worse by the high-level turnover that Renault-Nissan has experienced over the past few years, losing execs like Carlos Tavares, Johan de Nysschen and Andy Palmer. Fortune has an excellent, and lengthy, feature on Ghosn, his responsibilities and the danger posed to Renault-Nissan by his departure. If you're at all curious about what the exec has done for the two automakers, how this alliance has worked when so many other industry partnerships have failed and just what a post-Ghosn future may hold, head over and have a look. News Source: FortuneImage Credit: Lee Jin-man / AP Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Read This Infiniti Nissan Renault datsun dacia lada readthis