Fail of the century #17: Infiniti M37

In 2008, Infiniti launched in the UK with a bold intention: to provide a tech-laden Japanese alternative to the German exec fare served up by BMW, Audi and Mercedes. Trouble was, as Infiniti had perhaps failed to spot, British buyers already had a tech-laden Japanese alternative to the German exec fare, etc, etc... in the shape of Lexus. And, while Lexus was great and all, it was hardly showing the Germans a clean pair of heels in the actually-selling-cars department.

So how did Infiniti – to Nissan as Lexus is Toyota – differentiate its offerings from those of the German and Lexus mainstream? Well, in the case of the M37 – and indeed pretty much the rest of its range – through the bold strategy of ‘being substantially worse’.

The M37’s steering was twitchy, the ride was granity, the V6 engine – borrowed from Nissan’s 370Z sports car, obvs – was weirdly raspy, not to mention thirstier than a camel who’s been at the extra salty crisps. And the whole thing looked like... well, each to their own, but once you’ve seen ‘over-inflated Porsche Panamera’, it’s hard to unsee. In total, Infiniti managed to shift a dozen M37s in the UK. To whom, Top Gear dares not speculate.

In 2019, Posh Nissan departed the UK, and with it the notion that Britain needed another tech-laden Japanese alternative to the German exec fare. A tech-laden South Korean alternative to the German exec fare, on the other hand...