Nissan unveils sporty crossover

The new FX goes on sale as a 2008 model in the United States this summer.

Infiniti will begin European sales this October. The brand hopes to have 80 dealers in major European cities by mid-2010, company vice president James Wright said in an interview at the auto show here today.

Infiniti’s goals are very modest. The brand aims to sell just 25,000 cars in Europe by 2013, Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said.

“It will be a very long process,” Ghosn said, adding that Nissan currently has no plans to launch the brand in its home market of Japan. Ghosn cited the shrinking Japanese car market and the difficulty other luxury brands have had establishing themselves there. “Japan will come,” but not anytime soon, Ghosn said, adding that Infiniti makes enough money in the U.S., Russia, South Korea and other markets.