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France's Macron says Renault-Nissan partnership is a 'jewel' to be strengthened

TOKYO — French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday called for further synergies and alliances to strengthen the Renault-Nissan partnership in a global market. "The Renault-Nissan alliance is a jewel in the industry," Macron told French expatriates in Tokyo. "We created a giant which we must not only preserve but develop synergies and alliances to strengthen it in the face of international competition." His comments appeared to leave open the possibility both of a deeper integration of the 20-year-old Renault-Nissan alliance, which has been shaken by the scandal over its former chief Carlos Ghosn, and tie-ups with other manufacturers. Last month, Renault and Italian-American group Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced they were in merger talks. But the discussions were called off after FCA grew frustrated with the role the French state was playing, especially its need to secure agreement from Nissan over how to move the merger forward. Since the break-off of the FCA talks, Renault executives have been looking to rebuild ties with Nissan, which is keen to reduce the influence the French state has in the alliance via its 15% stake in Renault. Renault owns 43% of the Japanese automaker, which in turn holds a 15%, non-voting stake in its partner. Nissan on Tuesday threw cold water on hopes for a quick fix to strained relations with France's Renault SA , saying inequality between the partners could unravel their two-decade-old automaking alliance. Macron said on Wednesday France would remain vigilant that Carlos Ghosn's presumption of innocence and the former Renault-Nissan leader's rights to defend himself in a Japanese lawcase are respected. "It's not up to the French president to interfere publicly in a judicial case," Macron said. "Japanese justice is independent." "We will be vigilant, just like with all our citizens across the world who have to answer to the law, through consular activity, so that the defendant's rights and presumption of innocence are respected in that case."

Pristine, time-traveling 2006 Mitsubishi Evo sells for $138K

Remember that never-sold 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution we told you about last week? The one with 9 miles on the odometer, its seats wrapped in plastic and never titled? And that had already earned a bid of $100,100 on eBay? Well, that Evo has now sold for a hair under $138,000, Road and Track reports. That's $100,000 over its original sticker price of $37,094. The seller was South Coast Mitsubishi in Orange County, Calif., which one Reddit user claims has stockpiled multiple Evos and sold them off at a premium. This high-fetching Evolution is an IX MR model in Graphite Gray with black trim, a six-speed manual, all-wheel-drive transmission. It's optioned with the MR package that includes some aluminum and carbon-fiber bits and boost-gauge kit, plus the Zero Lift aero kit. Under the hood is a 2.0-liter, 16-valve inline four-cylinder, 286 horsepower engine with 289 pound-feet of torque. It can do 0-to-60 in 4.4 seconds. The car's production run ended with the 2015 model year. The car fielded a total of 80 bids, which started at $30,000. Related Video: News Source: Road and TrackImage Credit: eBay Weird Car News Mitsubishi Sedan eBay

NuTonomy shows that people quickly relax in autonomous cars

For six weeks, nuTonomy has had a fleet of self-driving taxis on the streets of Singapore, and it seems the experiment is already yielding useful information based on rider surveys. CEO Dr. Karl Iagnemma revealed at UPSHIFT 2016 that despite most first-time riders initially being nervous about stepping into a self-driving vehicle, the anxiety quickly fades. In fact, after a minute or two in the car, riders will relax into near boredom. Customers who ride along in either a fully autonomous Renault Zoe or a Mitsuibshi i-MiEV have been providing valuable feedback to engineers pre- and post-ride. The research and data obtained from their self-driving taxi service and the riders who use it is already being integrated into their future, Level 4 autonomous products. The Cambridge, MA, based company has also found that riders are attributing human-like characteristics to the vehicles. It seems that riders prefer when the machines don't behave like machines but more like people. NuTonomoy is tailoring their future vehicles to be less trolly-like. Iagnemma revealed that the company is in talks with other global cities to bring their autonomous products to the roads. Related Video: Image Credit: Adam Whittaker Green Mitsubishi Renault Autonomous Vehicles Electric renault zoe nutonomy