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Mitsubishi Motors Chairman Masuko resigns due to health reasons

Osamu Masuko (Getty Images)   TOKYO — Mitsubishi Motors said on Friday Osamu Masuko resigned as chairman due to health reasons and has handed over the role to CEO Takao Kato on a temporary basis. A veteran of the larger Mitsubishi conglomerate, Masuko joined the automaker in 2004 and became president in 2007. He oversaw the creation of the partnership between Mitsubishi and Nissan in 2016, which saw Nissan take a controlling stake in the company. The 71-year-old will stay on at Mitsubishi as a special adviser, the company said in a statement. It did not specify what Masuko was ailing from. Masuko was at the helm of Mitsubishi during a 2016 scandal in which the automaker was found to have overstated the fuel economy on its vehicles. An investigation uncovered slack governance and pressure on resourced-starved engineers as chronic issues at the company. CEO Takao Kato adds the role of chairman. (Getty Images)   The scandal was Mitsubishi's third in two decades, and it pummeled profits and tarnished the automaker' s brand. At the height of the scandal, Nissan lent its smaller rival a lifeline by offering the company $2.2 billion for a 34% controlling stake. The deal was agreed between Masuko and then Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, and brought Mitsubishi in as a junior partner in the Nissan-Renault automaking alliance. Masuko later denounced his ties with Ghosn following Ghosn's 2018 arrest in Japan over financial misconduct, charges that Ghosn has denied. All three members of the alliance are currently mired in financial problems after years of aggressive expansion policies under Ghosn's leadership resulted in falling vehicle sales. A further drop in global car demand due to the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated these problems, and Mitsubishi, Nissan and Renault are each bracing for steep annual operating losses this year. Related Video:      

Auto News Recap For 5.13.16 | Autoblog Minute

Senior Editor Greg Migliore recaps the week in automotive news, including a look at Hyperloop One's desert propulsion test, Chrysler 300 rumors, and Nissan's purchase of Mitsubishi. Chrysler Mitsubishi Nissan Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video hyperloop

Toyo Tires will bring another wild catalog of rides to SEMA

Toyo Tires carts all kinds of toys to SEMA every year, the rubber company planning another 30 or so automotive exhibits this year in two locations. One of them, the Baja 911, comes with a pedigree not usually associated with the bewildering wares hawked at the Las Vegas show. TJ Russell was once lead fabricator for Singer Vehicle Design, now he's the head of Russell Built Fabrication in Sun Valley, CA. Sticking with the marque he knows well, Russell started with a 1991 Porsche Carrera 4 cabriolet, fitted the interior with a full roll cage, then built a hardtop around it to design a desert runner channeling the old Rothmans safari 911s. Underneath that bodywork lives a box-plate trailing arm suspension with 12 inches of travel, working 15-inch Fifteen52 FIA-approved Gravel wheels and 30-inch Toyo Open Country A/T II tires. Power comes from a purpose-built 3.8-liter air-cooled flat-six with about 350 horsepower — 100 hp more than stock — in a car that weighs 400 pounds less than the original. Oh, and as documented on Instagram with the tagline "All race outside, all business inside," the interior's full of quilted, cross-stitched leather, and Toyo says Russell's going to do a low-volume run of the Baja 911 starting early next year. ruffian-ford-mustang-sema-01 View 10 Photos Chris Ashton built a 1970 Ford Mustang Fastback called the Ruffian Mustang, inspired by the Trans Am Racing Series. The exterior changes are more subtle than one might think – the chin spoiler, hood scoop, and side mirrors are barely exaggerated versions of those on the original car, the intake vents astride the front lights and the steel bumpers teleported from 1970. Changes outside include de-chromed and flush-mounted glass, vented hood, front fenders that are dropped an inch, rear fender vents, dual side-exit pipes, and gargantuan fender flares over staggered Signature One wheels and Toyo Proxes 888 tires. The interior's fitted with a roll cage and race car workings. In spite of the Boss 427 badging, the engine's a 625-hp Chevrolet LS3 V8. button-built-ferrari-355-sema-01 View 13 Photos The Button Built Ferrari BB355TT picks up from last year's stanced BB328GTS widebody that gave many Internet denizens heart attacks. Laid up on a 1999 355 Berlinetta, the BB version appends a widebody kit designed Mitchell Button, rendered by Khyzyl Saleem and drenched in Azzuro la Plata, a color from Ferrari's Scagliette palette first used on a 1967 275GTB Le Mans racer.