Infiniti Gold Coast will operate from the redeveloped Pacific Fair shopping precinct as a three-car satellite store to AP Eagers’ main dealership, Infiniti Centre Brisbane.

The Gold Coast shop is the latest small-scale retail outlet Infiniti has opened after its pop-ups at Garden City, Robina and Indooroopilly shopping centres in Queensland.

The new store differs from the pop-up model by being more permanent. It will have a two-year lease and adhere to the precinct’s trading hours.

Infiniti Centre Brisbane dealer principal, and architect of the Pacific Fair store, Marco Kim said it represented a new strategy as Infiniti expanded its audience.

“The challenge is to get people aware of Infiniti,” he said.

“Pop-ups tend to be used by brands that are already well known to the public. In Infiniti’s case, it wasn’t a well-known brand so we opened Garden City pop-up in 2014.”

Garden City has since closed but Mr Kim retains the Robina and Indooroopilly outlets which he said have been “great successes”.

“We record quite a large number of sales and have gained a lot of recognition for the brand through these stores,” he said.

“But we found that these stores can’t be done on the cheap. Customers expect quality so the stores we have – and the new one for Pacific Fair – have high-quality fitouts that are equal to a conventional showroom.

“They also have the latest technology including interactive screens and even an interactive coffee table.

“The stores offer full sales and service and AP Eagers’ online appraisal system even allows trade-in valuations. So it’s a full retail operation.”

Pacific Fair, which plans to open on September 10, will also include six carpark bays for each Infiniti model available for test drives.

Infiniti Q30

Infiniti Cars Australia managing director Jean-Philippe Roux said that the new store was set among high-end retailers.

“It’s a shop, with a two-year lease, with a close proximity to (retailers like) Rolex, Gucci and Prada,” he said.

“We think it has some value for us as a brand to be there with a shop, to display our technology – our hybrid technology that supports our Formula One program, for example – as well as a sales centre.”

Mr Roux said new retail formats were part of the advent of automotive technology including autonomous driving and hybridisation.

“Customers are always looking for a new experience, and we are always trying to deliver that experience to potential customers,” he said.

“It’s a complementary thing (to dealers),” said Mr Roux, who also confirmed that no other car brands were present in the Pacific Fair expansion.

“Infiniti is trying to do things a bit differently – its engines are different, its designs are different, so the retail experience can be different.”

Mr Roux said that the store concept would not be expanded to other cities. However, the brand is on the move with two new Melbourne dealership locations – one in the CBD and one in Doncaster – now being targeted.

By Neil Dowling and Tim Robson