Nissan eyes mainland production of Infiniti

A Nissan Motor (7201.TYO) executive said Tuesday that the company will obtain permission from the Chinese government within a month to begin making Infiniti model cars in the mainland, The Wall Street Journal reported. Executive Vice President Andy Palmer did not say whether the high-end model would be made at new factories or existing mainland facilities that the auto maker runs as part of a joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Group (0489.HKG, D4D.FRA). China will make two Infiniti models and is expected to account for about one-fifth of the 500,000 Infinitis per year that the company hopes to sell by 2016, up from 145,000 in the last fiscal year. Infiniti, Nissan’s luxury brand, moved its headquarters to Hong Kong in April and is basing more production outside of Japan due to the continued appreciation of the yen against the renminbi.