Name: Cuba Gets Its First American Car in 58 Years
Uploaded: 2016-09-30
Duration: 4 min 42 s
Description: Fortune follows the Infiniti Q60, and its designer, on the streets of Havana

[ MUSIC ] Cuba, what a special place this island nation has earned in my heart. The colonial architecture, the classic cars, and some world- class daiquiris. Those are what most tourists think are the draws. Typical, but with relations between the United States and the communist country changing, we're sure to see more American tourists Flood day by day into Havana. And with rumors of an end to a Cuban- American embargo, we might have to get used to more sights like this. [ MUSIC ] The Infiniti Q60, finally a coupe from Nissan's upscale brand that I can say is a credible performance contender in a well- muscled Field. So what is it doing in the popular streets of Havana? A year and a half ago, I ask Infiniti for the nearly impossible. Being a fan their new design language and knowing that their chief designer is Cuban I was compelled to beg them to bring the first new production car form America into Cuba in 58 Years. How did it happen you ask? To give you the full story we need to go back to the 1950s. [ INAUDIBLE ] 1959 Fidel Castro has gathered enough support from the public to start a rebellion with the promises of creating a democratic society. But the revolution turned into something else. Politically powerful and affluent families were the first to be persecuted and the first to flee the island. Alfonso Albaisa's family was both. So the 59, 60 all of these [ INAUDIBLE ] The family is assuming to return. You don't fully integrate, because everyone thought this thing is not real, can't be real. But it turned out to be quite real. And as Alfonso's family fled So did corporations. He naturalized American businesses and a few days later naturalized all major Cuban businesses which was 70 % of the economy. It was and it still is the largest confiscation of US property. Outside the United States. Fidel Castro wanted the Cuban economy to be powered completely by Cuban enterprise. Sparking a ban to all auto imports from America and eventually, most of the world. So I kept having discussions with people and they're expressing the importance of the automobile in a country that really hasn't had a importation of automobiles. For a very long time. The romance of the automobile is completely alive in Cuba, historically and actually their ambition. Fast forward to 2013. Cuba lifted the ban on non- American car imports. And car dealerships began popping up. But the United States still held an embargo with Cuba and American automakers were stuck behind, until now. Getting the Q60 into Havana was a bureaucratic mess. It took over four months just to get permission from US Commerce and Cuba's government to ship the coupe And because of the embargo, we had to promise the Q60 would only stay for 30 days. So Infiniti makes history for America. But how much does it really count? Well, it's a very real sign that the two countries are attempting to be civil with one another. But the Cuban people aren't ready Ask Peugeot, which opened car dealerships around the island and only sold 50 vehicles in the first six months of operation. The reason is simple, Cuban's can't afford it. In America the Q60 costs around $ 50, 000. [ MUSIC ] An average Cuban salary is about $ 25 a month, but in the end no one seemed to mind being exposed to Alfonso's luxurious creation .>> The people of Cuba, amazing, warm, kind, open. There's no reason for them to be nice to me. There, we'd come in with a car that they cannot have. We come in, and I'm an exile from an exiled family that was politically unappetizing. If anything, we met more people fascinated by the pre- production car that was very much influenced by Alfonso's Cuban past. You know, I'm a designer like my dad and my uncle, various uncles. And to come not as a tourist, but to come in with a project that I'm very proud of and to come to Cuba is a kind of for me. A political, powerful Moment. [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ]

Fortune follows the Infiniti Q60, and its designer, on the streets of Havana