Infiniti introduced the third generation of the I-series (I30 and I35) in 1998 on the Japanese market named Nissan Cefiro, while the U.S. customers got it starting the following year as a 2000 model year.

Nissan started to grow its premium brand in the U.S. and rebadged its best-built vehicles from Japan as Infiniti, such as the i30, which was a Nissan Cefiro.