2005 Infiniti G35

Infiniti G35 Vs. Audi A4

We compare two of the highest-volume luxury nameplates.

Audi's A4 and Infiniti's G35 luxury cars do well enough to make some non-luxury cars jealous.

So far this year, Nissan Motor's $31,000 G35 — a premium nameplate — is outselling the cheapest car in America, General Motors' Chevrolet Aveo compact, which starts at $10,000. The G35 is also outselling other non-premium GM cars you might expect to be higher-volume, such as Chevy's Monte Carlo and Pontiac's GTO and Vibe.

Click here for the slide show comparison of the G35 and the A4.

To be fair, few nameplates are as successful as the A4 and the G35. Both are critically acclaimed models that are handsome and fun to drive. Dealers like the nameplates because they offer variety: The G35 comes as a coupe or sedan, and the A4 comes as a sedan, wagon or convertible and has a hot-rod derivative, the S4, at the top of the lineup.

However, so far this year the G35 is making the A4 eat its lunch in the showroom. In the first five months of 2005, Infiniti sold 29,182 G35s in the U.S., while Audi sold 17,802 A4 and S4 models.

There are several reasons for this trouncing. First of all, Audi put an overhauled A4 on sale earlier this year. Ordinarily, sales of a car decline when its parent company retools assembly lines to stop building the outgoing model and to start building the new one. A significant part of this decline comes from customers who know a new model is coming and will wait for it, passing on the outgoing model. Therefore, we were unsurprised to see the A4's sales have declined 8% this year.

The model changeover may explain why A4 sales are down, but it does not explain why the G35 is doing so much better. Much of it has to do with Infiniti's strategy for pricing and packaging the G35.

While the A4 and G35 have similar base prices, Infiniti keeps most models comparatively affordable. Unlike the A4, the G35 does not have an expensive, high-performance option, nor does it even have more than one engine option. The A4 has three engine options, and the bigger engines get progressively more expensive.

Consider the base prices of different G35 and A4 models. The most expensive starting price for a G35 is $34,000 for the G35 coupe with a manual transmission. The most expensive starting price for the Audi, on the other hand, is $55,000 for the S4 convertible.

You can see how having a roster of cheaper cars would give Infiniti better sales. What's more, Audi has no hardtop A4 two-door, whereas Infiniti sells a G35 coupe for roughly the same price as the G35 sedan. The G35 coupe this year has accounted for 37% of total American G35 sales.

Infiniti also keeps things simple in terms of packaging. While the A4's base engine — a turbocharged, 200-hp four-cylinder — is comparatively snoozy, Infiniti offers a lot of power with its one engine: 280 hp with an automatic transmission, 298 hp with a manual.

This allows Infiniti to create the impression that its car is a better value than Audi's. The prices of its lineup do not get out of hand, and you don't have to spend significantly more to get the hot engine. Its superiority in the showroom makes sense.