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In a joint statement released on Thursday, Nissan's Infiniti luxury brand and Austrian auto manufacturer Magna Steyr announced that they have signed a memorandum of understanding for the assembly of a new Infiniti premium compact model. Infiniti said that production of its new entry-level model is slated for 2014 and it will be sold in key markets around the world including Western Europe. The Japanese automaker did not say if it will offer the car in North America.
"This new vehicle represents a significant opportunity for the Infiniti brand to reach new consumers and grow in key markets such as Western Europe,” said Infiniti boss Andy Palmer. "We are pleased to be working with Magna Steyr to realize this important product."
While Infiniti did not give any specific details about the car, it did say that Etherea concept (pictured here) shown at the Geneva Salon last year "provides a possible glimpse of the future"
At the time, Infiniti itself had described the Etherea as "part elegant coupé, part spacious sedan, part practical hatchback and even part tall crossover".
Regardless of how close the production model will be to the Etherea in terms of styling, Infiniti's rival to the BMW 1-Series and Audi A3 is expected to be based on Mercedes-Benz's new MFA platform architecture that underpins the latest A-Class hatch as part of the strategic tie-up between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler.
