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What happens to Renault-Nissan after Ghosn is gone?

Carlos Ghosn is a very, very busy man. Like, really busy. As in, he heads up three automakers (and their subsidiaries), running facilities in 68 countries and selling vehicles in 170 different markets across the globe. He flies over 300,000 miles per year and works 15 to 16 hours a day, just to manage an alliance between the Japanese and French that's responsible for an expected $140 billion in sales this year alone. The Chairman and CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, Ghosn has managed a number of remarkable feats during his time at both automakers, but there are some that are questioning how much longer the 60-year-old exec can handle the punishing nature of his responsibilities. According to Fortune, six months ago Ghosn signed a four-year contract to continue running Renault, while his tenure at Nissan will continue until at least 2017. Beyond that, though, the future is rather murky, and it's made worse by the high-level turnover that Renault-Nissan has experienced over the past few years, losing execs like Carlos Tavares, Johan de Nysschen and Andy Palmer. Fortune has an excellent, and lengthy, feature on Ghosn, his responsibilities and the danger posed to Renault-Nissan by his departure. If you're at all curious about what the exec has done for the two automakers, how this alliance has worked when so many other industry partnerships have failed and just what a post-Ghosn future may hold, head over and have a look. News Source: FortuneImage Credit: Lee Jin-man / AP Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Read This Infiniti Nissan Renault datsun dacia lada readthis

'Charge lock' on Nissan Leaf doesn't actually prevent cable theft

Is it a feature or a bug? According to AutoblogGreen reader Francois Viau, the locking mechanism that holds the 110V trickle charge cable to his Nissan Leaf is too weak, and that's a problem. That's because while he thought the cable was locked to his car during a charge session at work, someone stole the cable, and it cost him $2,200 to replace it (in Canadian dollars, from the Nissan dealer). To see just how easy it is to unlock the mechanism, Viau had a "small assistant" jimmy it open with a plastic comb on video (watch it below). "The charge lock feature on Nissan Leaf is not intended to prevent theft of the charging cordset." – Brian Brockman We wondered if this was a common problem and, through the magic of Facebook, we had AutoblogGreen reader Phil Tipper try it out on his 2013 SL Leaf. He said he used an insulated handle flat screwdriver and was not able to defeat the lock. "I admit that I didn't want to force the mechanism for fear of breaking it, it didn't look like that kid used much force at all," he said. "Maybe this guy's mechanism was damaged in the theft and now it's very easy to trip the lock out of the way." Fifty percent of a sample size of two isn't a reliable metric, but if you're worried about locking your cable in place, you can see some of Viau's anti-theft solutions here (in French, with pictures). Turns out, though, that the white plastic bit that prevents the cable handle from working during a charge isn't really an anti-theft device. Brian Brockman, senior manager of corporate communications for Nissan North America, told AutoblogGreen that, "The charge lock feature on Nissan Leaf is not intended to prevent theft of the charging cordset. It is designed to discourage someone from unplugging the vehicle while a charging session is in progress. The trickle charge cable features a small hole in the release button to allow the owner to insert a lock to reduce the chance of theft." So, now you know. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

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