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Nissan to bring Friend-Me concept to Shanghai

Nissan's got a big ol' show planned for its immersive space at the 2013 Shanghai Motor Show where visitors will see, touch, hear and smell the Nissan world. Sitting among 20 offerings that include the GT-R, Quest, Murano and Teana will be the Friend-Me concept (click image above to enlarge), the first show car created with "key input" by Chinese designers at Nissan Design China in Beijing. Its USP is "Four seats, one mind connectivity" that promotes information sharing among all the occupants.
The Friend-Me has the "vibrant, young" Chinese demographic in mind, our guess being Nissan thinks there's no reason to stop the digital sharing just because you're sitting in a car. We'll find out on April 20 exactly what's being exchanged in the Friend-Me. Until then, there's a press release below with a little more info.

Ghosn says having Apple in EV business would be good news

Nissan once promised to have commercially viable autonomous vehicles on the road by 2020 and even certified a Leaf to test the technology in Japan. The company has since backpedaled a bit from its original lofty claims, though. During CEO Carlos Ghosn's keynote presentation at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the auto exec talked more about the automaker's strategy and directly confronted Apple's rumored entry into the market. "When Apple says they are going to come with an electric car in 2020, that's good news for us," he said in his speech, according to Adweek. Ghosn took the view that any company able to grow the acceptance of EVs would help every automaker in the segment. The Renault-Nissan Alliance has been at the forefront of developing the market and claimed nearly 60 percent of the global market share last year. He was also the latest auto industry heavyweight to voice his opinion on Apple entering the industry. However, in contrast to former General Motors boss Dan Akerson, the Nissan CEO was much more welcoming. Ghosn also used the speech as a chance to clarify Nissan's plans for autonomous vehicles and seemingly pushed the original goal back by about five years. "In 10 years, you'll have cars without the driver. It is here, and it's going to transform the products," he said, according to Adweek. Under Nissan's current timeline, traffic-jam assist and fully automated parking are due in 2016, followed by automatic lane changing in 2018 and the ability to drive through intersections without a driver's control comes in 2020. News Source: AdweekImage Credit: Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP / Getty Images Green Nissan Renault Technology Emerging Technologies Autonomous Vehicles Electric

Fisker stock trades halted as talks with Nissan collapse

Fisker's talks with a large automaker for a potential deal have collapsed, it said on Monday amid growing uncertainty for the cash-strapped startup that last week paused electric-vehicle production.  Trading in the shares of the company, which did not name the automaker with which it was in talks, has been halted pending an announcement.  Fisker also said it will not be able to meet a closing condition related to its attempt to raise up to $150 million in funding by selling convertible notes after missing an interest payment.  Separately, Fisker said it would ask investors to vote on a proposal for a reverse stock split at a shareholder meeting on April 24, as it looks to maintain compliance with the Nasdaq's listing norms.  Reuters had reported earlier this month that Nissan was in advanced talks to invest in the company, however, earlier in the day, the Japanese automaker held an event in which it announced a long-term business plan, including its EV strategy, and said it was looking for partners in the United States.  Raising funds has been hard for loss-making electric vehicle startups, which have little in way of revenue as they struggle to ramp up production and deliver to customers, as the companies battle stiff competition and a tough economy.  The EV startup's shares have cratered this year, losing more than 90% of their value, after it flagged going concern risk in February and paused investments in future projects until it secured a partnership with an automaker.  Fisker pivoted to a dealer-partner model earlier this year, after it delivered less than half of the vehicles it made in 2023 due to logistics issues.    Earnings/Financials Fisker Nissan