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Nissan's Nismo celebrates 30th year with video retrospective

Nismo, the motorsports and high-performance arm of Nissan, has a lot of racing success to celebrate in its history and possibly even bigger accomplishments to look forward to. The company is commemorating its 30th anniversary with a video looking back at its most important milestones from each year of its past.
Nismo's job first and foremost at its genesis was to excel at motorsports. It wasn't too long after the division was founded in 1984 that the company made its first of many attempts to take an overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It never quite succeeded in that goal, but still managed to do well in long-distance competition elsewhere. At the same time, Nismo was racking up wins in touring car races in Japan.
Eventually, the division's engineers started dipping their toes into tuning road cars, in addition to going racing. What began as something sporadic has become a growing part of the Nissan lineup with Nismo-branded models of the 370Z, Juke, Note in Europe and the GT-R.

Mystery shoppers love Infiniti, hate Tesla

Infiniti, followed by Lexus tied with Mercedes-Benz took the top two spots for best sales experience according to mystery shoppers from the latest Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index, while EV manufacturer Tesla recorded the lowest overall score. Not surprisingly, premium brands dominated the top ranks. Including the three already mentioned, luxury brands occupied seven of the top ten spots and included Audi, BMW, Porsche, and the only American brand to crack the upper echelon, Cadillac. Toyota, Volkswagen, and Nissan rounded out the first ten positions. The news for domestic automakers isn't good. Aside from Caddy, the only other star-spangled automaker to score above the industry average is Chrysler. The rest of FCA, most of GM, and all of Ford fell below the line. But Pied Piper's mystery shoppers handed Tesla the biggest walloping – the company is ten full points below the next lowest brand, Volvo, and its score of 86 is 17 below the average of 103. It's baffling, considering the company's touted direct-sales model. "Tesla leaves me scratching my head," Fred O'Hagan, Pied Piper's president and CEO, told Wards Auto. "They own all of their stores, so you would think each one would be doing the same thing. But they're not. Tesla is consistent in its inconsistencies." O'Hagan added that there's a "huge variation" in Tesla's store-to-store effectiveness, and that in some cases, shoppers found showroom workers that acted more like "museum curators," Wards Auto reports. It might be popular to call Tesla the Apple of the car world, but based on Pied Piper's work, the brand has a long way to go to emulate the uniform shopping experience of an Apple Store. The news might be bad for Tesla, but even for the brands that scored below average, there's cause for celebration. Only Tesla and Mini lost points in this year's rankings, and only Mercedes and Lincoln held steady. Every other brand, including Infiniti, which topped the index for the first time, gained at least one point. The biggest improvements belong to Porsche, Land Rover, and Mitsubishi, which all jumped five points. Pied Piper's annual Prospect Satisfaction Index uses mystery shoppers – over 6,100 this year – from across the country to assess dealers and generate rankings from over 50 individual factors. News Source: Pied Piper via WardsAuto Green Audi BMW Cadillac Chrysler Infiniti Lexus Mercedes-Benz Nissan Tesla Toyota Car Buying Car Dealers study

Carlos Ghosn to make first public appearance in seven weeks on Tuesday

Ousted Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn is set to make his first public appearance in seven weeks at a Tokyo court on Tuesday after he requested an open hearing to hear the reason for his continued detention. Ghosn has been held in a detention center since his Nov. 19 arrest on allegations of financial misconduct, which was followed by re-arrests over further allegations. The hearing will take place at 10:30 local time (0130 GMT) on Jan. 8, the Tokyo District Court said on Friday. The reason behind the timing of Ghosn's request was not clear. Earlier this week, the court approved an extension to Ghosn's detention until Jan. 11, after re-arrest by prosecutors who accuse him of aggravated breach of trust in transferring personal investment losses to Nissan. Those allegations center on the use of company funds to pay a Saudi businessman who is believed to have helped him out of financial difficulties, sources said last week. According to an article from The New York Times, Ghosn and his family assert that he is innocent. In remarks Ghosn made while under detention in Japan, he is reported to have said through his lawyer, "I want to have my position heard and restore my honor in court." Former Nissan executive Greg Kelly, who has been charged with conspiring to under-report Ghosn's income, has been released on bail after the court ruled against extending his detention while he awaits trial. Ghosn's arrest was followed by his removal from roles at Nissan and Mitsubishi. The case has rocked the auto industry and strained Nissan's ties with French partner Renault where Ghosn still remains chairman and chief executive. Renault has launched a search for an interim chief to fill Ghosn's roll at the French company as he deals with these legal cases in Japan. The arrest has also put some of the practices of Japan's criminal justice system under international scrutiny, including keeping suspects in detention for long periods and prohibiting defense lawyers from being present during interrogations. (Reuters contributed to this report.)Related Video: