Infiniti FX50 sports utility vehicle from Nissan

The world premiere of the Infiniti FX50 sports utility vehicle was the first yet by Nissan's luxury subsidiary outside its main US market. Infiniti will also serve as a flagship for Mr Ghosn's sprawling automotive empire, which last week saw the Lada-owner Avtovaz join the Renault-Nissan alliance, making it the world's third largest group after Toyota and General Motors.

In addition to Infiniti at the luxury end, there is also Renault's Logan budget car, which is spearheading a push into emerging markets where much of the sales growth is expected to come in the future. The main development cost of Infiniti's four-model European line-up has already been absorbed by the US market, where it sells some 130-140,000 cars per year.