Infiniti to establish global HQ in Hong Kong to fuel China expansion [Video]

Japan-based luxury automaker Infiniti has announced a major move as part of its global expansion efforts.

With China now officially the world's largest auto market and projections suggesting it will only continue to increase its lead in the years to come, automakers around the world are making big moves to make sure they get a piece of the pie - and for Infiniti, they are doing so quite literally.

In a rather surprising move, Nissan's luxury arm has announced that it will be moving its global headquarters to Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China.

Although not technically part of China, Hong Kong is extensively tied into China as a result of the Hong Kong handover from the United Kingdom to China in 1997. Infiniti likely sees Hong Kong as a suitable location for a global headquarter due to its business-friendly environment, low taxes and very close proximity to mainland China.

(More after video)


As explained by Nissan executive vice president, Andy Palmer, starting April 1, 2012, Nissan will establish a regional hub in Hong Kong, and among the functions based there will be the Infiniti global headquarters. Palmer does go on to explain that engineering, manufacturing and marketing will continue to be based in Japan and other locations.

Palmer says that Infiniti is looking to Europe, Southeast Asia and China for major growth in the future, so the Hong Kong location was logical as it acts as a gateway of sorts both to China and Southeast Asia.