Nissan draws up plans for Infiniti

The Jap­anese firm's upmarket Infiniti brand will be launched in the UK in autumn 2008, and these sketches hint at two models that will make up part of the range.

Insiders describe Infiniti as the 'Japanese BMW' and think of Lexus as more of a 'Japanese Mercedes'. By this they mean the Nissan-owned brand will focus on driver involvement and entertaining handling in an upmarket package, rather than outright luxury. As a result, all of Infiniti's models will either be rear or four-wheel drive. The official sketch shows the Infiniti G Coupé, which will be unveiled at the New York Motor Show in April.

Designed to take on the BMW 3-Series Coupé, the new sports model will appear at the show alongside a compact SUV previewed by the outline sketch above.

The prestige brand's UK line-up has yet to be finalised, but Auto Express has learned that the range will include the 3-Series-rivalling G35 saloon and coupé, the 5-Series-sized M model, plus two SUVs.

The firm's BMW X5 challenger, the FX, is already on sale in the USA, while the second is the smaller SUV hinted at by the sketch.