Infiniti has vowed to keep its key fleet model, the Q50, out of rental to ensure its residual values remain high.

“We’re protecting this key vehicle,” said Hannah Bishop, UK fleet manager at Infiniti.

The Q50, which was available to drive at CCIA, is the first Infiniti built for Europe and shows the direction that Infiniti is going in, according to Bishop.

It will be followed in spring by Infiniti’s new C segment vehicle, the Q30, which will be built in Sunderland.

“Although we haven’t got a Q30 at the moment to showcase it’s definitely a talking point with fleets,” Bishop said.

A new design centre is set to open in Paddington later this year, along with more dealerships (both Newcastle and Maidstone are in the pipeline) bringing the total number of dealerships to 11.

The dealerships are “strategically positioned” to give Infiniti good representation in major cities.