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Mitsubishi NA gets new president and CEO

Last week, we told you that Mitsubishi will be getting a new global president, with Osamu Masuko stepping aside in favor of Tesuro Aikawa. The executive changes at the Japanese automaker are hitting closer to home, now, with official word that Mitsubishi Motors North America is getting a new president and CEO, as well. Effective March 1, Ryujiro Kobashi will take over for Yoichi Yokozawa, 49, who has been in charge since April of 2011. Yokozawa is headed back to Japan, where he will assume a spot in the company's corporate planning offices.
Kobashi, 53, has been with Mitsubishi since 1983 when he was fresh out of college. Previous to taking the top job in North America, he was installed as corporate general manager of the NA office at Mitsubishi's headquarters in Japan, where he coordinated regional operations for the US, Canada and Mexico. Before that, he held posts in planning, marketing, advertising and public relations for the company.
Kobashi takes over the company's North American operations at a pivotal time, when the region is finally showing signs of life after a prolonged period of stagnation. As Automotive News notes, Mitsubishi only sold 62,227 vehicles in the US in 2013, but that figure still represents an eight-percent increase. Its crossovers, the new-for-2014 Outlander and the two-year-old Outlander Sport have been selling relatively well, and the affordable Mirage subcompact is a new arrival at dealers.

Lebanon gets Interpol fugitive notice for Carlos Ghosn as escape details emerge

BEIRUT — Lebanon's justice minister said Thursday that Lebanon has received an international wanted notice from Interpol for NissanÂ’s ex-chair Carlos Ghosn, four days after he fled Japan to Lebanon before a trial on financial misconduct charges. Albert Serhan told The Associated Press in an interview that the Red Notice for the former automotive titan was received earlier Thursday by the prosecution. Ghosn skipped bail before his much-anticipated trial, which was to start in April. He arrived in Lebanon, where he was raised after moving from Brazil as a young boy, on Monday via Turkey and hasn't been seen in public since. Authorities have said that he entered legally on a French passport. A plane carrying Ghosn arrived at 5:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) Monday at IstanbulÂ’s Ataturk Airport, Hurriyet reported, adding that prosecutors ordered the arrests after widening their investigation. Flight tracking data from that time suggests that Ghosn used two different planes to fly into Istanbul and then on to Lebanon. Japanese authorities allowed Ghosn to carry a spare French passport in a locked case while out on bail, public broadcaster NHK said on Thursday, shedding some light on how he managed his escape to Lebanon. While some Lebanese media have floated a Houdini-like account of Ghosn being packed in a wooden container for musical instruments after a private concert in his home, his wife called the account “fiction” when contacted by Reuters. She declined to provide details of the exit of one of the most recognized titans of industry. The accounts of the two sources suggest a carefully planned escape known only to a few. They said a private security firm oversaw the plan, which involved shuttling Ghosn out via a private jet to Istanbul before pushing onward to Beirut, with even the pilot unaware of GhosnÂ’s presence on board. InterpolÂ’s so-called Red Notices are requests to law enforcement agencies worldwide that they locate and provisionally arrest a wanted fugitive. Serhan, the minister, said the Lebanese prosecution “will carry out its duties,” suggesting for the first time that Ghosn may be brought in for questioning. But he said that Lebanon and Japan do not have an extradition treaty, ruling out the possibility that Beirut would hand Ghosn over to Japan One sources who spoke with Reuters said Ghosn was greeted warmly by President Michel Aoun on Monday after flying into Beirut via Istanbul and was now in a buoyant and combative mood and felt secure.

Mitsubishi bringing Emirai 3 to Tokyo?

Inquiring minds really want to know if the W-shaped steering wheel will return on Mitsubishi's newest iteration of the Emirai electric concept vehicle. The Japanese automaker is slated to show off the third variant of this interesting concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show at the end of the month, according to Technologic Vehicles. Beyond the facts that the car is a two-seater and runs on electric power, we don't have many details to share just yet. One specific item we do know, though, is that concept will once again offer close monitoring of the driver's physical state. In this case, the car is said to use cloud-based data to gauge the driver's physical condition, so the concept goes well beyond the types of sensors we see in other vehicles that offer features like collision avoidance and lane maintenance. The car is also missing doors, which doesn't necessary help the driver's physical state but is still pretty cool-looking. The model could see the light of day – and limited production – by the end of the decade. Two years ago, Mitsubishi brought its Emirai 2 concept car to Tokyo. That super-futuristic vehicle included a biometrics feature that adjusted the driver's seat based on the user's facial temperature and heart rate. It also had a W-shaped steering wheel straight out of a Superfriends cartoon. Mitsubishi was an early entrant in the electric-vehicle sector with its i-MiEV, though that model has been selling in the single-digit figures in recent months. Now that we have a few year's worth of hindsight, the i's jellybean shape looks pretty pedestrian compared to the Emirai. News Source: Technologic Vehicles Green Tokyo Motor Show Mitsubishi Electric