Infiniti EX30d is a heavyweight addition to SUV ranks

Despite selling just 232 cars in the UK last year, the company is aiming to double its sales in 2011 by selling around 400 vehicles in Britain and 145,000 worldwide.

Considering that the luxury marque had just one UK dealership (in Reading) for its first 12 months in the UK, its easy to see why the Japanese rival to Lexus, BMW, Audi and Mercedes feels there is room for improvement.

With additional dealerships in London, Birmingham and Glasgow and a range of more frugal, diesel-engined vehicles, theres more of a buzz about the Infiniti now.

I got behind the wheel of the EX30d, a BMW X3-sized SUV, to find out what the Infiniti is all about.

The EX is a compact luxury SUV and comes with a diesel engine in the guise seen here.

Infiniti's three-litre V6 diesel feels like a powerful lump despite the EXs 1,985kg kerb weight, which is around 200kg heavier than its key German rivals.

Thanks to 235bhp and 405lb.ft. of torque, the EX30d manages to deploy some serious overtaking grunt through its four-wheel-drive system.

Rotund

Nissan claims that it will hit 62mph in 7.9 seconds with a 137mph top speed.

The upshot of the EX's rotund weigh-in, however, is that the t is neither the most frugal, nor the cleanest car in its class, returning a claimed 33.2 mpg and CO2 emissions of 224g/km.

Performance and plush, premium comfort are clearly the combination that Nissan are aiming for.

In the range-topping GT Premium spec tested here, the leather-clad seats and door inserts combine with smooth, sweeping interior design to create the comfortable, cocooned feel of a soft-furnished lounge.

The chunky leather steering wheel and leather bound gear-selector, especially, feel fantastic.

Its a level of comfort youd expect from a compact SUV costing £43,854, though. Prices for the EX30d range start at £36,741.

There's a host of useful technology packaged among the GT Premiums soft-touch surfaces.

The sat-nav unit will be familiar to Nissan drivers, but thats no bad thing. The Connectiviti+ package offers straightforward touch-screen operation and can be hooked up to an iPod with excellent results...everything from music folders to album artwork is displayed on screen.

To keep you from crashing up the nearest embankment while youre engrossed in your music, Nissan have also equipped the GT Premium with a lane-keeping assist system which warns the driver when the car starts to stray over a white line.

The radar-guided technology also warns the driver when approaching an object too quickly, pre-loading the brakes and emitting a warning.

And it can maintain a specific gap to the car in front when the cruise control system is in Intelligent Cruise mode.

Its not technology we haven't seen before, but makes for a very complete standard specification.

Self-healing paint which fills-in light scratches when exposed to heat is one pretty ingenious Infiniti application, however, and promises to keep the EX scuff free without the need for a vigorously applied bottle of T-Cut.

From certain angles the EX looks more like a slightly lofty estate car than a full-blown SUV and thats how it drives out on the roadwith a low centre of gravity for an SUV.

Although the ride seems initially supple theres impressive grip and poise through corners.

Some larger potholes did unsettle the suspension, sending a clunk through the springs, but, although heard, the jolts never reached the seat of my pants.

This apart, the ride was impressive and a relatively long wheelbase made motorway cruising a stable, serene affair.

An element of the EX30d that I never truly got on with, was the seven-speed automatic gearbox.

It became increasingly difficult to anticipate when it would make its up-shifts and slurring low speed changes made for less than smooth pottering in heavy traffic.

In situations where more performance-oriented driving was called for, the engine and gearbox seemed to hang together much better, with the EX displaying an ability to scythe down sweeping B-roads in speed and comfort.

The Infiniti might be relatively new to the UK but there's no doubting that it has hit our shores with an array of strengths.

Offering greater comfort and a plusher interior than its German rivals, the EX30d will win fans with customers who want first class transport over big distances.

But there's no getting away from the fact that its fuel consumption and CO2 emissions fall some way behind the best in class and that seven-speed gearbox did dent my enjoyment at times.

The Infiniti's formula looks ideal to reap rewards in the emerging Far East market but, here in the UK, the compact SUV might have to lose a little weight and gain a few mpgs.