So far this year, Nissan Motor's (nasdaq: NSANY -news - people ) $31,000 G35--a premium nameplate--is outselling the cheapest car in America, General Motors' (nyse: GM - news - people ) 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.
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.
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