Salaam alaikum!” I was more than a little amused when the friendly guy in blue overalls at the Emarat quick-wash bay walked up to my window and said this, smiling. There’s nothing new about these guys being friendly or offering you this salutation. But the fact that he was the third person to do that in under two minutes, and that he walked over from the adjacent bay to do it, was unusual. This is a service station which I often take our test cars to, and these include Mercs, Bimmers and even an odd Italian supercar. But never before have I had so many of them coming over to me just to say “hello”. The difference this time was that I was behind the wheel of a Nissan Patrol.

This reminded me of what Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn said when he was here a couple of years ago to launch the new-generation Patrol. Answering questions on why the new version is such a marked shift from what the SUV has been all through the years, he said despite its proven off-road track record the previous versions lacked the sophistication and the impressive urban presence of its arch rival, the Toyota Land Cruiser. At 5,140mm long, 1,995mm wide and 1,940mm high together with a 3,075mm wheelbase, the new Patrol clearly has more road presence than most of the vehicles out there. And with all the technologies and amenities from the Infiniti QX56 making their way here, it doesn’t lack in that department either. So it was a happy coincidence that when Toyota offered us the 2012 Land Cruiser, we already had the Patrol 60th Diamond edition in our garage. The most obvious thing to do when you have these two legends of off-roading is to take them out for a spot of dune-bashing. But since we had already taken these two into the wilderness many times before, I decided to keep them on the tarmac for the next four days. Moreover, as I realised at the petrol station, in the UAE driving a Patrol or a Land Cruiser is a statement that you can’t make with cars that are way more expensive. And a good percentage of these sold here spend their lives only on the road, enjoying the respect they get in the fast lane, at KFC drive-thrus and service stations.

The 2012 Land Cruiser gets a few changes on the exterior, like new bi-xenon headlights, new fog lights, mildly different tail-lamp clusters, etc. But the biggest change is the new 4.6-litre V8 that replaces the old 4.7-litre unit. Coupled with a new six-speed automatic and all-wheel drive, it makes 304bhp and 439Nm of torque. Although smooth and powerful enough, it pales in comparison with the Patrol’s 400bhp 5.6-litre motor, which feels far more refined, and thanks to 560Nm of torque accelerates with a greater sense of urgency. However, the trade-in for this extra power and smoothness is the fuel consumption. While the Toyota averaged 15.8 litres-per-100km over four days, the Nissan returned an average of 18.2 under similar conditions. Mind you, these are purely on-road figures, and expect these to go up considerably if you’re off-roading.

It is also benefiting from an early foray into the booming inland regions and a full product line-up ranging from premium Infiniti-brand cars to light commercial vehicles and compacts such as the popular Tiida model.

After a bumper 2011, Nissan’s local joint venture, Dongfeng Motor Co, was the fastest-growing automaker in China in the first quarter of 2012, growing 16 percent in a market that fell 0.3 percent from the year before.—- Luxury brands eye China, but some see trouble aheadIn another step to accelerate its growth, Nissan this week unveiled at the Beijing auto show the first production model under its joint venture’s own, entry-level Venucia brand, following China’s directive for all foreign car makers to form a separate brand with their local partners to help the country’s fledgling industry gain technological know-how.”We want to be a global car maker, presenting every single kind of product you can find in the Nissan brand – from the luxury, with Infiniti, and the entry level with affordable cars under Venucia,” Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn told Reuters TV at the show.

“We’re going to be everywhere.”Dongfeng Nissan, the joint venture’s passenger car arm, said it aims to add a new Venucia model every year, targeting annual sales of 300,000 vehicles by 2015, with five products and 250 exclusive dealers.

Toyota and Honda executives have said they have no immediate plans to produce their Lexus and Acura premium vehicles in China.All the while, Toyota and Honda have seen their market share slip in the past four years as competition intensifies in the mid-sized sedan segment where their core Camry and Accord models had driven sales.

Honda’s sales in China fell for the first time in 2011, although part of that was due to a supply shortage resulting from Japan’s earthquake and tsunami in March.Toyota and Honda also missed the trend towards affordable compact cars as consumers sought better fuel economy.

Gasoline prices in China have soared about 60 percent over the last three years, to more than 8 yuan ($1.27) per litre.

Both automakers are looking to fight back.Global luxury auto brands are piling in to tap China’s seemingly endless appetite for Audis and BMWs but, amid the ambitious sales forecasts, some signs point to trouble ahead for sleek high-priced vehicles.

Upscale brands from General Motor’s Cadillac to German brands such BMW and Mercedes-Benz, are trying to make up for less robust growth in the United States and sagging sales in Europe and grow – or survive in some cases – as luxury brands.Optimism abounds at the Beijing auto show, which opened in the Chinese capital on Monday.

General Motors expects Cadillac sales in China to match US levels by 2015 or 2016, while BMW expects sales growth in China to climb by a double-digit percentage in 2012.

Luxury car sales represented just 7.5 percent of overall sales in China last year, compared to nearly 12 percent in the United States, according to data compiled by the company.

“Working with Adopt a Charger, we’re providing this community service in an effort to increase electric vehicle acceptance and make ownership more convenient by helping ensure chargers are available in high-traffic areas,” said Jon Brancheau, vice president of Nissan Marketing, in the statement.

“Nissan’s commitment to zero emissions goes beyond the LEAF; we want to help transform global societies to adapt zero emissions vehicles as a way to address environmental concerns and promote energy independence.”

Adopt a Charger works with other organizations and individuals to donate funds to provide electric vehicle chargers for free to the public.

Nissan installed three level 2 chargers in Los Angeles County Museum of Art, four level-2 chargers at the Music Concourse Garage in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, and eight level-1 outlets at the same location in San Francisco. The chargers are free to use.

“As our first corporate sponsor we made sure to carefully research the best places to offer Nissan’s adopted chargers,” said Kitty Adams, executive director of Adopt a Charger.

“We found that LACMA and Golden Gate Park have several characteristics that make them the perfect venues. We truly believe that Los Angeles and San Francisco residents will greatly benefit from this new public service.”

Adopt a Charger has been reported to be working with the California State University system, U.S. National Park Service – Golden Gate Recreation Area, and with regional museums.

Nissan will debut a new version of its midsize Infiniti M 35 hybrid sedan at the Beijing Motor Show on Monday with an extended wheelbase that is designed to appeal to chauffeured Chinese car owners. It also plans to produce two upscale models at one of its factories in China, Andy Palmer, an executive vice president who oversees Infiniti, said in an interview.

“We will localize two cars from 2014 and they will be specific to China,” Mr. Palmer said, declining to specify which types of cars, other than to say they will be high volume, entry-level luxury models, or in which Chinese plant they will be made. The vehicles will be built with its Chinese partner, Dongfeng Motor Group Co. 0489.HK -0.53%

Japan’s No. 2 auto maker says it wants to position Infiniti globally to attract younger, wealthier buyers with an appreciation of Asian sensibilities such as “motenashi”—a Japanese term for hospitality. The test market for that new vision is China.

Producing in China will allow Nissan to avoid a high tax on luxury imports and cut production costs. It currently exports all Infiniti models sold in China from Japan, where the strong yen has eroded profit margins and reduced the price competitiveness of its vehicles.

Last year, Chinese sales of Infiniti models nearly doubled to 19,075 vehicles and Nissan expects sales to hit 100,000 in four years. That’s as many as it sold in the U.S. last year and a big chunk of the 500,000 luxury vehicle goal that CEO Carlos Ghosn has vowed to sell globally by 2016. To get there, Mr. Palmer said Nissan will expand its dealerships to 148 from the current 50 showrooms.

But some industry analysts doubt Infiniti can grow that quickly in China. “Based on our forecasts, we think sales of around 65,000 units by 2016 would be a more achievable target,” said Lin Huaibin, Shanghai-based head of China vehicle sales forecasts at researcher IHS Automotive.

Two decades after its launch in 1990, Infiniti has struggled to break out of niche status and has lagged its Japanese rivals, Honda Motor Co.’s 7267.TO -0.92% Acura and Toyota Motor Corp.’s 7203.TO +0.90% Lexus. Last year, it had just 6.8% of the U.S. luxury market, compared with 8.5% for Acura and 13.7% for Lexus, according to GoodCarBadCar.net. In China, Infiniti’s luxury car market share in 2011 was 1.31%, a fraction of the Audi brandi’s commanding 32.2% stake and 5.4% for Lexus, according to researcher LMC Automotive.

As part of remaking the brand, Nissan will double its product line-up to 10 core vehicles over the next four years with most of the new cars to be made outside of Japan.

The two new Chinese models are likely to be manufactured in central Hubei province’s Xiangyang plant, where the car maker is comfortable with quality levels achieved for its Nissan models, according to a person familiar with the plan.

“Nissan, more than most others, in the past 2-3 years has changed its product planning focus to one with China very much on the map…”We’re using Asia, and particularly China, to really define what the brand represents and then we’re rolling that back to Europe and the U.S.,” Mr. Palmer said.

Mr. Palmer said that while built with Chinese buyers in mind, the extended wheelbase car will likely be sold in other markets in the future and that some of its features might show up in other, including U.S. market, models.

Last December, at the Tokyo motor show, Ghosn announced that the high Japanese yen is forcing Nissan Motor to move Infiniti production out of Japan.

“You won’t have to wait a long time before we make a decision about the new base for sourcing of Infiniti,” Ghosn told a group of reporters at the New York Auto Show. “If you follow our logic, we should make the cars where we sell them.”

Already the Infiniti JX is being built at Nissan’s plant in Tennessee. Now Nissan may move some, if not all, Infiniti production to perhaps North America or China or elsewhere. The details are unclear. We know this: Nissan has announced plans to build a new $2-billion (U.S.) factory in Aguascalientes, Mexico. While Nissan has not said what models will be built there, Infinitis are now on the radar screen.

The problem, as Ghosn discussed at the show here, is that back around the time of the big financial crisis, the yen traded at about 110 to the greenback. This week it hit 82.36. Last December, Ghosn warned those listening in Tokyo that his company would consider moving production out of Japan if the yen remained at an uncompetitive exchange rate. He’s been true to his word.

The strong yen, he said here in New York, is a barrier to Infiniti reaching its sales goals. Currently, all Infiniti models save the JX are built in Japan – yet Infiniti vehicles are not sold in Japan

“So this is an interesting case,” he said, “where you have most of the sourcing in Japan, none of the sales in Japan. And today, having the sourcing in Japan with the yen is obviously not the right system. So we’re going to be moving Infiniti out of Japan in order to give it a little bit more competitiveness.”

Take note that Nissan is not building a new plant in Canada. While it’s true that Toyota recently announced an expansion of its plant in Woodstock, Ont., as a general rule Canada is not the destination of choice for cost-conscious car makers who eye our strong dollar and high wages in the assembly sector and then look elsewhere to invest – in Mexico, the southern U.S. states, China and other places.

Ghosn’s announcement should send shivers down the spines of anyone watching the hollowing out of Canada’s manufacturing sector.

Ghosn also repeated his prediction that electric vehicles will capture 10 percent market share by 2020 in the markets where they are on sale.

“I am not at all changing my very bullish approach to zero-emission cars,” Ghosn said. “The electric car will hold its promise. All the stars are lining up to make it a very important segment.”

According to the Japanese based automaker, the 2012 Nissan NV will be available to its future customers in five trim levels and the most affordable version will start at 32,685 USD. The 2012 Nissan NV passenger van has a single configuration, the 3500-series but its future customers will be able to choose from two engines the 4.0 liter V6 unit, which is producing a total output of 261 horsepower and 281 lb-ft of torque, along with a more powerful 5.6 liter V8 engine, generating 317 horsepower and 385 lb-ft of torque. Nissan says that both units are mated to a five-speed automatic transmission which is “moving” the rear wheels.

The 2012 Nissan NV is available as the NVP 3500 S (4.0 V6 – $32,685), the NVP 3500 SV (4.0 V6 – $34,885), the NPV 3500 S (5.6 V8 – $33,585), the NVP 3500 SV (5.6 V8 – $35,785) and the NVP 3500 SL (5.6 V8 – $38,385), with the base S being equipped with rubber floor covering and fabric seats, while the SV is adding carpeted floor mats and leather. All versions will get air conditioning, reading lamps, cup holders sliding out from under the seats and side-curtain airbags for all rows of seats.

The 4.0-liter V6 that delivers 261 hp and 281 lb-ft of torque, while the V8 produces 317 hp and 385 lb-ft of torque, with both units being mated to a heavy-duty five-speed automatic gearbox.

Nissan tells us that the van offers up to 324 seat configurations, as passengers can choose multiple configurations for the 2nd and the 3rd rows of seats. These can even be removed and so can the 50/50 split 4th row bench.

As expected, the vehicle offers multiple useful features, such as rear 50/50-split French doors, a satnav system, a Bluetooth hands-free phone system, a rear view backup camera, a mobile office support with 120V outlets and others.

Nissan will add two Datsun models every year in Russia, India and Indonesia, the Yokohama, Japan-based carmaker said in a statement today. The brand, phased out in 1981, will account for as much as half the company’s sales in those markets by March 2017, it said.

Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn expects the revived brand to help widen Nissan’s reach to target more customers in countries such as India, Russia and Indonesia where it will introduce the Datsun cars from 2014. Nissan’s third global brand will help the company compete against rivals such as Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. in India and Toyota Motor Corp. in Indonesia, according to Ammar Master, an analyst at LMC Automotive in Bangkok.

“Datsun could bring in volumes at the lower end of the market,” said Master. “While the Nissan brand will continue to move upmarket.”

Nissan last year said the carmaker aims to increase its share of the global car market to 8 percent by the year ending March 2017, from 5.8 percent in the year ended March 31, 2011. The company had said at that time it will introduce 51 new models, capture a larger share of the luxury-car market and increase sales in emerging economies.