英菲尼迪能否重演奥迪的奇迹？

    作为日产汽车（Nissan Motor）旗下的豪车品牌，英菲尼迪（Infiniti）一直以来都在拖后腿。现在日产挖来了原奥迪（Audi）美国分公司的负责人，或许终于可以让这个品牌扬眉吐气了。

    在过去19年里，约翰•德•尼琛一直是奥迪在美国的负责人。近日，日产CEO卡洛斯•高森将他挖至麾下。尼琛将在英菲尼迪的香港总部负责该品牌的全球运营。当然，他的任务里有相当大的一部分，是要使英菲尼迪在全球增长最快的汽车市场——也就是中国——占有一席之地。高森从奥迪挖人其实并没有什么好奇怪的。“英菲尼迪一直以来都患有‘奥迪嫉妒症’”，汽车网站Edmunds.com的分析师米歇尔•克雷布斯指出：“奥迪正是英菲尼迪一直想成为的那种年轻、时尚的品牌。另外奥迪也是成功的德系豪华车品牌中的一颗新星。”而英菲尼迪在与丰田（Toyota）的豪车品牌雷克萨斯（Lexus）的竞争中一直落于下风。

    评测者一般都会对英菲尼迪给出很高的评价，不过在经销商门店里，英菲尼迪却没法吸引富人们像对待梅赛德斯-奔驰（Mercedes）、宝马（BMW）、奥迪和雷克萨斯（Lexus）那样一掷千金。英菲尼迪的营销本来就没有给人留下什么深刻的印象，现在更是变得松散无力。

    德•尼琛曾经带领困境重重的美国奥迪实现复兴，他完成了他的前任们都没能完成的任务。尼琛的美国奥迪复兴之路离不开系统的规划和执行，这个案例将来很可能会成为汽车高管们研究的对象。虽然在奥迪的老家欧洲，奥迪一直被视为与宝马和奔驰同一档次的品牌，但就在距今不久之前，奥迪在美国的认知度还颇为有限。尼琛堪称是奥迪在美国实现品牌重塑的总战略设计师。

    外界认为尼琛是一位固执的、毫不妥协的管理者，这样的个性未必会受美国经销商的喜欢。比如一般来说，经销商要求的车型数量总是多于公司想要提供的数量。但是在尼琛的领导下，美国奥迪决定小心地控制奥迪的稀缺性和增长速度，以便保持品牌的高端地位，避免出现通用凯迪拉克（Cadillac）和福特林肯（Lincoln）那种因为打折而损害销量的事。

    在上世纪80年代末，由于有车主指责奥迪的旗舰车型奥迪5000存在突然加速的隐患，因而在6年的时间里，奥迪在美销量骤跌80%以上。事实上相关指责从来没有被证实过，不过奥迪还是增加了一些相应的安全配置，并且调整了踏板的布局。因为据说在此之前，奥迪车的踏板总是让驾驶员觉得他的脚正踩在刹车上，而不是踩在油门上。

    By poaching the head of Audi in the U.S., Nissan Motor may finally have found the key executive to lead the turnaround of Infiniti, the Japanese automaker's perennially lagging luxury division.

    Johan de Nysschen, who ran Audi in the U.S. for the last 19 years, was recruited by none other than Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's magnetic CEO. De Nysschen will run Infiniti worldwide from its new Hong Kong headquarters. Not surprisingly, a big part of his mission to make Infiniti relevant in the world's biggest automotive growth market, China.

    That Ghosn would pluck somebody for the German automaker is not much of a surprise. "Infiniti has had 'Audi envy' forever," said Michelle Krebs, automotive analyst for Edmunds.com, an automotive website. "Audi is the younger, hipper brand that Infiniti has wanted to be. Audi also was the upstart among the more successful German luxury brands," just as Infiniti has been an also-ran to Lexus, Toyota's luxury division.

    Reviewers have often rated Infiniti models highly, though no one at the franchise has ever been able to unlock the intangibles of prestige and desirability that motivate well-heeled buyers to pay the same high prices captured by Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Lexus. Infiniti marketing has careened from forgettable to incoherent.

    Enter De Nysschen, who led the resurgence of a troubled Audi after predecessors floundered. He led a methodically planned and executed renaissance of the brand in the U.S. which is likely to be a case study for future automotive executives. Though in its native Europe Audi has long been seen in league with BMW and Mercedes-Benz, in America its perception until recently lagged. De Nysschen was the architect of a grand strategy that remedied that.

    De Nysschen is known as a tenacious and uncompromising manager, not necessarily a favorite of U.S. dealers. For instance, dealers routinely demanded more Audis and different models than what the company was willing to supply. But Audi, under De Nysschen's guidance, has determined to control scarcity and growth meticulously so as to maintain the brand's prestige status and avoid the discounting that has hurt franchises like General Motors' (GM) Cadillac and Ford's (F) Lincoln.

    During a six-year period in the late 1980s, Audi's sales in the U.S. plunged more than 80% amid accusations that its flagship Audi 5000 was prone to unintended acceleration. The accusations were never confirmed, though Audi added some safety features as a result and changed the placement of foot pedals that were thought to lead some drivers to assume their foot was on the brake rather than the accelerator.