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Carlos Ghosn 'very comfortable' after questioning by Lebanese prosecutor

BEIRUT/TOKYO — Carlos Ghosn's lawyer said he was "very comfortable" with legal proceedings in Lebanon on Thursday, after the fugitive ex-Nissan boss was questioned over an extradition request from Japan where he faces criminal charges. Ghosn fled Japan to Lebanon, his childhood home, last month as he awaited trial on charges of under-reporting earnings, breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds, all of which he denies. His dramatic escape has raised tension between Tokyo and Beirut at a time when Lebanon is seeking an international bailout to help it tackle a deep financial crisis. Ghosn slammed the Japanese justice system at a two-hour news conference on Wednesday, prompting Japan's justice minister to launch a rare and forceful public response. After questioning in Beirut about Japan's Interpol wanted notice, two judicial sources said the prosecutor had imposed a travel ban, a step Carlos Abou Jaoude, a Beirut-based lawyer for Ghosn, described as procedural to broadcaster Al Jadeed. Lebanon has no extradition agreement with Japan. "He (Ghosn) is very comfortable with the path," Jaoude told another broadcaster, MTV, adding that Ghosn was also comfortable in himself "especially after what he went through."   Related: CES 2020 and Carlos Ghosn | Autoblog Podcast #609 Ghosn: Nissan-Renault strife and his arrest can be traced back to Macron The rise, fall and flight of Carlos Ghosn   One of the judicial sources said authorities had asked Japan for its file on Ghosn, including the charges against him, and would not question him again until the information is received. Ghosn would surrender his French passport on Thursday, he said. Ghosn said later he was more comfortable with the Lebanese judiciary than that of Japan. "I will fully cooperate," he told broadcaster LBCI. Japan's Justice Minister Masako Mori said Ghosn's allegations that he had had "zero chance" of a fair trial in Japan were unfounded. "Defendant Ghosn was looking to justify his unlawful exit from Japan by propagating a false recognition of our justice system," she said at the second of two news conferences, the first of which was held shortly after midnight. "I felt that we needed to respond immediately to broadcast a correct understanding to people around the world." Ghosn told LBCI her comments were "ridiculous." "Today my concern is clearing my name and reputation because all the accusations against me are fabricated," he told Al Jadeed. Trial in Lebanon?

Deltawing takes out second ad targeting Nissan amidst design lawsuit

Don Panoz isn't a guy shy away from a fight. Since December, Panoz's Deltawing Technologies has been in a lawsuit with Nissan over alleged intellectual property violations with the design of the Zeod RC. The situation went public several weeks ago when Deltawing bought an ad in The Tennessean, a paper near Nissan's US headquarters, and the industry trade, Automotive News, aimed squarely at company CEO Carlos Ghosn.
Now, Deltawing is trying the tactic a second time with an even more scathing ad in The Tennessean on July 11 and in Automotive News on July 14 that calls the Zeod's design out directly. The bulletin puts the two racecars side by side and asks readers compare their similarities.
According to Deltawing spokesperson Gary Fong, the idea for these ads started after mediation between the company and Nissan broke down earlier this year. "We were trying to bring them to settle it amicably," he said to Autoblog. When that didn't happen, Deltawing wanted to fight the misconceptions in the public about the program and lawsuit. The strategy actually worked, too. "We've seen an opinion change," said Fong. He estimates that before the advertisements the attitude was "90 percent against Panoz," but there has been more support since them.

BMW, Hyundai score big in JD Power's first Tech Experience Index

While automakers are quick to brag about winning a JD Power Initial Quality Study award, the reality, as we've pointed out before, is that these ratings are somewhat misleading, since IQS doesn't necessarily distinguish genuine quality issues. JD Power's new Tech Experience Index aims to solve that problem. The new metric takes the same 90-day approach as IQS but focuses exclusively on technology – collision protection, comfort and convenience, driving assistance, entertainment and connectivity, navigation, and smartphone mirroring. It splits the industry up into just seven segments, based loosely on size, which is why the Chevrolet Camaro is in the same division (mid-size) as Kia Sorento and the Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class is in the same segment as the Hyundai Genesis (mid-size premium). It makes for some screwy bedfellows, to be sure. Still, splitting tech experience away from initial quality should allow customers to make more informed and intelligent decisions when buying new vehicles. In the inaugural study, respondents listed BMW and Hyundai as the big winners, with two segment awards – the 2 Series for small premium and the 4 Series for compact premium, and the Genesis for mid-size premium and Tucson for small segment. The Chevrolet Camaro (midsize), Kia Forte (compact), and Nissan Maxima (large) scored individual wins. Ford also had a surprising hit with the Lincoln MKC, which ranked third in the compact premium segment behind the 4 Series and Lexus IS. This is a coup for the Blue Oval, whose woeful MyFord Touch systems made the brand a victim of the IQS' flaws in the early 2010s. But Ford and other automakers might not want to celebrate just yet. According to JD Power, there's still a lot of room for improvement – navigation systems were the lowest-rated piece of tech in the study. Instead, customers repeatedly saluted collision-avoidance and safety systems, giving the category the best marks of the study and listing blind-spot monitoring and backup cameras as two must-have features – 96 percent of respondents said they wanted those two systems in their next vehicle. But this isn't really a surprise. Implementation of safety systems from brand to brand is similar, and they don't require any input from users, unlike navigation and infotainment systems which are frustratingly deep.