• by Karl Greenberg , April 5, 2007

Nissan used the New York International Auto Show to unveil two new vehicles for Infiniti and a new Nissan, or a new version of its 350Z coupe, the 350Z Nismo. The term refers to the company's performance-parts line.

Nissan's luxury division Infiniti unveiled the new G37 coupe, which follows the recent intro of second-generation sedan version. The new car, set to arrive in showrooms this summer, has a more powerful engine, while also being greener. "We are targeting a 40% reduction in hydrocarbon emissions," says Mark Igo, vice president/general manager, Infiniti. He says the coupe goes on sale in August.

The second Infiniti offering is a crossover concept, EX, that will go on sale in December as the EX35. The vehicle also reflects an effort by Nissan to grow its market share among women, says Jan Thompson, Nissan's marketing chief.

"The G35 had 35% female buyer percentage, so if you look for percentage of female, there's nothing but opportunity for us," she says. "We are aiming to get more women into Infiniti brand."

The company posted strong sales in March after a year in which the company lost momentum. But the recently launched Altima posted 27,000 units last month and did strongly for Sentra and the Versa compact crossover. "They really nailed the month," says Jim Sanfilippo, consultant with AMCI, Detroit.

Meanwhile, the efforts--particularly for Versa and Sentra--based on digital and media-agnostic content, will continue this year.

In a recent change in marketing structure, Thompson will now handle media and advertising strategies, while product marketing and development will be overseen by Christian Meunier, currently vice president of sales and operations, Nissan Europe.

Thompson says Nissan will seek to pursue a media-agnostic strategy; for instance, taking content that was originally meant for the Internet and moving it onto TV, which reflects the company's effort to move away from advertising developed for specific media. She says the forthcoming campaign for the Altima Coupe, launching this summer, will be aimed at younger buyers and that the effort for the 350Z Nismo will include Web films and other interactive media.

"We will use it in marketing. Certainly streaming video online ... so it's more contextually relevant than splashing it on TV for the masses to ignore."

She also says Nissan is reaching young buyers: the median age of the Versa buyer is 44, Sentra buyers are in their early 40s.

"We all have more than one agency today, so we have to integrate digital with ad, and it's a matter of getting all the agencies working together. I'd like the agency to think digitally agnostic, and they are thinking that way more and more."

Adds Igo, "I think everyone is trying to figure out when the well is going to run dry on broadcast because of the impact of DVR, and I think, as a luxury brand, we realize the days of wide broadcasting is coming to an end."