INFINITI Cars Australia is considering opening dedicated stores in shopping centres as part of its slow and steady retail network expansion over the coming years.

So far this year, the company has opened an additional three retail and service centres in the Perth suburb of Osborne Park, Castle Hill in Sydney’s north-west and Warwick Farm in Sydney’s south-west, as well as service-only centres in Canberra and Adelaide.

This adds to the existing centres in Brighton in Melbourne, Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley and East Sydney that all opened between 2012 and 2013, within Infiniti’s first 12 months of operation in Australia, and the company is now mulling the next move.

While the Japanese premium manufacturer has installed a number of ‘activations’ including at Sydney airport and Chadstone shopping centre in Melbourne, Infiniti Cars Australia managing director Jean-Philippe Roux told GoAuto that the company is looking into setting up more substantial stores in retail shopping centres.

“What we might be looking at in the short term or medium term is actually go the next step, which is potentially looking at a bit more of a permanent establishment in a shopping centre,” he told GoAuto in an exclusive interview. “There are different options we are looking at, different stages of the retail strategy.

“It’s no secret that other brands are looking at that. I feel this is quite interesting. The automotive landscape is changing.”

One of the most high-profile brands to open stores is electric vehicle-maker Tesla, which has famously eschewed a traditional dealer model in the United States, although some states have blocked the brand from selling cars via that retail channel.

Mr Roux said the potential stores, or even pop-ups and activations, will help lift interest in the brand in Australia, adding that while some buyers might be keen to put money down on a new Infiniti in the store, the transaction would more likely be handled at a dealership.

“It does make sense, obviously we have to be clear on what the objectives are.

“Also there would be occasions we find we might want to close the deal on the spot. But in most cases it’s about building brand awareness that will then transform and convert into inquiries and leads to our dealers two or three months down the line.”

Mr Roux added that the stores would offer potential buyers an intimate experience that allows them to engage with the product and technology on offer.

“Like anyone, customers are now looking for experiences and they want to be told a story and want to engage with the brand and therefore the whole strategy is, if we were to jump into shopping centres, is to tell a bit more of a story about the brand, display a bit more technology around hybrid, for example, where we have very interesting technology.”

Infiniti also has two pop-up stores, one in the Brisbane suburb of Indooroopilly, as well as at Robina on the Gold Coast.

Mr Roux said there was a chance that the new service centres in Adelaide and Canberra could eventually grow into full retail dealerships but this was not yet confirmed.

“Down the line, maybe,” he said. “We wanted to take a pragmatic approach to the market then see how the brand grows or volume develops and then, potentially if things are going in the right direction, then transform some of them into full centres.”

While he remained coy on any future Infiniti dealer sites, Mr Roux hinted that there could be more on the horizon in Melbourne.

“CBD and Doncaster are not covered but we are looking at those PMAs (primary market areas).”

Infiniti has only been operating in Australia since late 2012, but Mr Roux said the car-maker has a strong focus on aftersales and customer service and that internal studies indicate the brand is doing well.

“We have a customer survey running both on the sales side and the aftersales side of things. The results are actually positive and I am thankful to our partners for the job they are doing in terms of delivering the right customer experience. I think it is extremely important in terms of brand building.

“The quality of facilities, quality of showrooms, quality of staff is such currently that we are in a position to provide a very good level of service. We are monitoring it very carefully every month with surveys but (I am) very happy with where we are.”

Mr Roux added that the low sales volume has allowed Infiniti to put a greater emphasis on customer and aftersales service and that customers have responded positively.

“The fact is we are not selling big numbers so it is a very personalised experience as well, it is a very one-to-one relationship with the service manager or sales consultant. Some customers do rate that quite highly.”

He added that “the right things were done at the launch of the brand” to help lift customer perception, including implementing the Infiniti Assure capped-price servicing scheme and a four-year/100,000km warranty.

By Tim Nicholson