Infiniti's EX luxury crossover has been out for less than a year, but lackluster sales have prompted Nissan's premium brand to retool its EX for 2010. Automotive News reported that Infiniti has sold just 10,289 EX crossovers, nearly half of the initial 20,000-plus Infiniti had wanted to sell. In addition to the premium status and tough economic times, Infiniti attributes the low sales to customer criticism of lack rear-passenger space.
With a long list of standard equipment and a beautiful design, the Infiniti EX offers a great value for the money compared with more expensive rivals. However, the feature-laden EX was unable to penetrate the crossover market, so Infiniti will be launching a new marketing strategy that will advertise the crossover as a better alternative to rival sedans and crossovers. During its initial run, the EX was aimed at couples and singles, especially women, specifically looking for a crossover, but now Infiniti will be working with its dealers in getting the EX out to a larger audience.
Even while targeting couples and singles, Infiniti found that most of its former and current EX customers were families looking for backseat space for their children. Potential customers moved to rival midsize crossovers with more rear space, such as the Acura RDX and Lincoln MKX. The MKX had over 10 in. more legroom than the EX.
Along with increased legroom, Infiniti will now make its "Around View Monitor" standard. The advanced camera system was previously available only on upper-level packages for the EX.
Source: Motor Authority