Infiniti is to launch its first electric car to offer low emissions motoring alongside its high performance products.
It will reveal a concept car, Emerg-e, at next month's Geneva Motor Show, with the unveiling streamed live on Facebook.
Infiniti already offers hybrid powertrains and is the premium sister brand to Nissan, which is already heavily committed to electric vehicles and registered 635 Leaf electric cars last year.
Wayne Bruce, European communications director, told Marketing Week: “Technology makes it easier to marry environment and performance and we want drivers to be able to enjoy the performance of a luxury car without feeling guilty. The concept car isn’t a vehicle that’s currently available to buy, but it’s a brand exploration of what high performance means to Infiniti.
Infiniti is also preparing a year long marketing, experiential and PR campaign under the banner “silence is the new vroom” to promote the luxury appeal of high performance vehicles.
Car marques could quadruple sales of green vehicles by targeting high-end consumers with marketing for environmental cars, rather than “traditional environmentalists”, according to a survey by GfK.
GfK surveyed 3,000 UK motorists and found that by the nature of the journeys they make by car and the amount they are willing to spend, luxury car owners are the best audience to target with green messaging for eco vehicles.
It claims that younger, environmentally-conscious urban families driving premium cars are four times more likely than the overall population to buy electric models as they have an above average interest in environmentally-friendly vehicles and are less resistant to hybrid and electric cars.