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Carlos Ghosn's detention extended over fresh allegations

TOKYO — A Japanese court on Friday approved the detention of former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn through April 14 after his latest arrest over financial misconduct allegations, a move that has raised questions among legal experts. The former star executive was taken into custody Thursday over fresh allegations that $5 million sent by a Nissan Motor Co. subsidiary and meant for an Oman dealership was diverted to a company effectively controlled by Ghosn. Ghosn spent nearly four months in detention and was just released last month after meeting stringent bail conditions while he awaits trial over earlier allegations that he under-stated his compensation in financial documents, had Nissan shoulder his personal investment losses and made dubious payments to a Saudi businessman. The Tokyo District Court on Friday approved the initial 10-day detention request from prosecutors, who can seek another 10-day extension before needing to file charges against Ghosn, release him or accuse him of fresh misconduct that needs investigating. Stringing out a suspect's arrest for the full 20 days and then raising fresh accusations is common in Japan, where it is known as a "rearrest." Critics say it allows suspects to be grilled by the authorities, resulting in some signing confessions to crimes they never committed. But it is rare for a suspect to receive bail and then be taken back into custody. Ghosn, 65, was first arrested Nov. 19 and released March 6 on 1 billion yen ($8.9 million) bail, after two previous rearrests. He says he is innocent of all allegations. Prosecutors argue the latest allegations are different from the previous ones, but his legal team says they are part of the same scenario of alleged wrongdoing. In demanding the latest detention, prosecutors argued Ghosn may tamper with evidence related to the fresh allegations. Prosecutors had earlier fought against bail for Ghosn, a citizen of France, Brazil and Lebanon, arguing he was a flight risk. Ghosn's lawyer Junichiro Hironaka pointed out prosecutors have already raided Ghosn's property and taken everything, leaving little to tamper with.

Bhutan asks Nissan, Mitsubishi for help with massive EV-only plan

Originally, the somewhat modest plan was to introduce 2,000 electric vehicles to the capital of Bhutan. Then things got bigger when Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn paid the country a visit and the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay, said his country, "will commit to a program to achieve zero emissions as a nation by a certain target date." Now we're approaching "holy huge" territory. Last week, Tobgay visited Japan to ask Nissan and Mitsubishi for help in possibly replacing every combustion vehicle with an all-electric option. "Gasoline is expensive and unfriendly to the environment." – Bhutan's Prime Minister At the very least, Bhutan wants to make more eco-friendly vehicles available. Tobgay told AsiaNews that, "Gasoline is expensive and unfriendly to the environment. Sustainable transportation will bring citizens happiness," which is something that a country that measures its Gross National Happiness is eager to track. Switching to electric vehicles makes complete sense in Bhutan, since the mountainous Asian nation produces more renewable hydro-electricity than it can use. Ninety-five percent of the zero-emission energy is exported to India, and Bhutan uses the profits to buy fuel from India to then power its vehicles. You can probably figure out for yourself how there's a simpler way to do this. News Source: AsiaNews.it Green Mitsubishi Nissan Green Culture Electric

Mitsubishi recalls 130k Lancers, Outlanders over auxiliary glitches

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has has announced two separate recall campaigns for Mitsubishi vehicles, both of them related to problems with their auxiliary systems and covering a total of some 130,000 units. The recalls relate to Lancers (including Sportback and Evolution versions) as well as the Outlander and Outlander Sport, all of them from the 2009 through 2011 model years. The larger of the two recalls relates to the blower motor that may not to an adequate job of defrosting the windshield and therefor impede the driver's visibility. The recall covers 76,958 units, specifically the 2009-2011 Lancer (manufactured between March 16, 2009, and March 30, 2011), 2010-2011 Lancer Sportback (June 17, 2009, to December 1, 2010), 2010-2011 Lancer Evolution (July 14, 2009, to January 7, 2011), 2009-2011 Outlander (February 10, 2009, to June 22, 2011), and 2011 Outlander Sport (August 26, 2010, to November 19, 2010). The smaller recall still covers another 53,395 units due to a problem with the electronic control unit tasked with operating the headlights, taillights and windshield wipers. "Unstable voltage" in that dedicated ECU could cause those systems to function improperly – which, again, could impede the visibility and increase the risk of a crash. This recall covers the 2009-2010 Lancer (January 12, 2009, to July 6, 2010), 2010 Lancer Sportback (June 17, 2009, to June 8, 2010), 2010 Lancer Evolution (July 14, 2009, to August 4, 2010) and 2009-2010 Outlander (January 12, 2009, to August 27, 2010). In both cases the manufacturer is not aware of any accidents or injuries resulting from the problems. But all the same, in both cases, owners will be notified to bring their Mitsus into their local dealer to have the relevant component (blower motor or ECU) replaced. Since the affected models and model years overlap, we suspect some owners may have both components replaced on their vehicles at the same time, but we're reaching out to Mitsubishi Motors North America for clarification. If this array of recalled vehicles sounds familiar, you might be thinking of a similar campaign issued last October that covered some 166,000 Lancers and Outlanders from largely the same model years. That unrelated recall, however, related to the drive belt detaching from the engine.