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Infiniti confirms new "premium compact" to be built in UK

Aside from certain naming-related news, Infiniti has actually had some decent product news to announce this week. The company's president, Johan de Nysschen, alluded to a new 550-horsepower performance sedan, and now the automaker has confirmed that a new "premium compact" will go into production in 2015. Based on the fact that this new model will be built alongside the Nissan Leaf at the automaker's Sunderland, UK assembly plant, we could only hope that it's a production version of the LE Concept (shown above).
Sunderland already produces Nissan products like the Qashqai, Juke and Note, and as a part of an investment of 250 million British pounds (around $406 million USD) for the new model, the plant would add an extra 280 jobs with the capacity to build 60,000 of the new Infinitis annually. Adding the premium compact at Sunderland means that Infiniti will have to change its plans for another new model, a bigger "C-segment hatchback," which could very well be a production version of the Etherea Concept.

Nissan, Toyota offering payment deferments to people affected by government shutdown

Two weeks into the budget-related government shutdown and it sounds like some progress is finally being made, but that doesn't really help furloughed government employees pay their bills. To help out a little, Nissan and Toyota are joining Hyundai with offering payment deferments to current owners and lessees.
In a release, a Nissan spokesperson said the company is "sympathetic to any of our customers who find themselves in difficult financial circumstances - many times outside of their control."
Both Japanese automakers are allowing payment extensions of up to 90 days without penalties or fees. Unlike the Hyundai Assurance Plan, though, it doesn't seem like the Nissan or Toyota assistance will be extended to those who are still in the buying process. Scroll down for press releases from both companies about their respective payment deferment programs.

Nissan Altima takes first V8 Supercars win

The V8 Supercars championship used to be strictly a contest between Holden and Ford. But just as BMW crashed the Audi and Mercedes party in DTM, so has Nissan (and for that matter, Mercedes) pushed past the door into Australia's popular touring car series. And like BMW, Nissan hasn't waited long before notching its first victory.
Nissan claimed the checkered flag this weekend in the first of three races at Winton, the ninth stop on the calendar. And what a spectacular win it was: not only did Nissan take the checkered flag, they finished one-two. James Moffat drove his Altima to the finish line just ahead of teammate Michael Caruso. It was Caruso who lead the first half of the race after qualifying just behind defending champion (and current points leader) Jamie Whincup, who suffered a gearbox malfunction and retired on only the ninth lap.
Of course that's just one race out of 27 so far and 37 scheduled this season, so that won't be elevating Nissan or any of its drivers to the lead the same way that BMW did upon its return last season to DTM, but it's a good start and a cause to celebrate for Nissan. Mark Winterbottom (Ford) and James Courtney (Holden) won the following two rounds at Winton as Jamie Whincup (Holden) leads Will Davison (Ford) in the standings.