It’s been 21 years since Infiniti started selling vehicles in the United States. While at first they were known to be selling rebadged Nissans (Infiniti’s parent company) at a premium price, Infiniti has grown-up and evolved into its own luxury brand with global operations that include more than 230 dealers in 15 countries. Infiniti also gives its competitors, including BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus, something to worry about; this was most apparent with the 2003 introduction of the G35, when Infiniti swore that it would never take its eyes off of BMW.

Infiniti’s sales continued to rise and its reputation grew stronger as Carlos Ghosn made it his goal to break the company away from its Nissan roots; a move seen by many as Infiniti taking on the role of “Japan’s BMW”. That role was firmly built upon the 2006 model year M35 and M45 sedans, engineered and designed to compete head-on with the BMW 5-Series.

Click here to get prices on the 2011 Infiniti M37.

For 2011, the M’s have undergone their first major re-design and engineering since their inception in 2006 – and we feel confident in saying that the all-new 2011 Infiniti M37 and M56, will have the competition seriously concerned about losing market-share.

Last week we went out to beautiful Southern California to spend a few hours test-driving the all-new M37 and M56; here is our first impression of the ‘Japanese BMW.’