DETROIT (Reuters) - Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor Co. (>> Nissan Motor Co Ltd) plans to transform its upscale Infiniti brand of vehicles into a primarily electrified offering, Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa said on Tuesday.

All new Infiniti models launched from 2021 will be either electric or so-called "e-Power" hybrids, Saikawa told the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit.

The announcement revives plans for a luxury electric offering that Nissan first touted with a 2012 Infiniti show car, but later scrapped over profitability concerns. That left the road clear for Tesla's (>> Tesla) Model S, introduced the same year.

"We are going to make Infiniti the premium and highly electrified brand," Saikawa said on Tuesday.

Nissan and alliance partner Renault (>> Renault) took an early lead in battery-powered cars with models such as the 2011 Leaf, still the world's top-selling electric vehicle.

However, Tesla has hogged the limelight in recent years, while German carmakers are leading a $90 billion wave of investment in electric and plug-in hybrid cars.

Nissan dropped the earlier electric Infiniti program in mid-2014 over concerns it would threaten the financial goals in its "Power 88" mid-term plan, according to people involved in those discussions. The company ended up missing its 8 percent margin target anyway, in fiscal 2017.

Nissan is one of a number of Japanese carmakers seeking to jump-start a higher-end brand. Toyota (>> Toyota Motor Corp) is launching a revamped Lexus LS flagship, while Honda (>> Honda Motor Co Ltd) has been redesigning its Acura line in the hope of boosting sales.

In the United States, Infiniti's sales rose 11.3 percent last year in a light vehicle market that was down 1.5 percent overall, while Acura deliveries fell by 3.9 percent and Lexus by 7.6 percent.

(Reporting by Laurence Frost and Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Sandra Maler and Rosalba O'Brien)

By Laurence Frost and Naomi Tajitsu