Renault Type RA Cabriolet by Million-Guiet, page #17

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Nissan's Ghosn highest paid exec in Japan again, at $10M per year

Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn is on track to be the highest-paid executive in Japan for the fourth time in five years. Ghosn's salary and bonuses last year rang the register to the tune of $9.8 million (995 million yen), and when stock dividends are added to the equation, the exec's total pay crested a billion yen. That represents a 0.7-percent increase over his pay from the previous year. Ghosn earned an additional $3.1 million as CEO of Renault.
According to Bloomberg, Ghosn's compensation was announced at a shareholder's meeting in Japan, prompting an explanation from the CEO. "I understand the sensitivity of the issue," Ghosn said. "Being in Japan should not be a handicap to attract talent. We need the best minds, we need the best talents."
Few would argue with that assessment, we'd guess, but it doesn't answer the question of whether Ghosn is the most talented CEO in Japan. Akio Toyoda, head of Toyota in Japan, earned 230 yen (though, as a large shareholder in Toyota, Toyoda's dividend payments bring him closer to Ghosn) in compensation while steering his automaker to a profit that was five times higher than Nissan's. Honda President Takanobu Ito was paid the comparatively small sum of 150 million yen last year.

Renault developing new Sport Trophy with 500 hp

If you're ever in Europe and have the chance to stop by a World Series by Renault event, you'll be in for a treat. For one thing, the tickets are free. For another, they take place at some of the best circuits Europe has to offer, like Monza, Monaco, Spa and the Nürburgring. It's produced some of the best racing drivers in the world, including multiple F1 champions Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, Le Mans winner Marc Gené and three-time WTCC champ Andy Priaulx. And it includes all kinds of action.
One event includes races in Formula Renault 3.5, Formula Renault 2.0 and the Mégane Trophy. But now Renault Sport Technologies is working on a new kind of racecar.
Previewed in the teaser image above, the Renault Sport Trophy show car is set to be unveiled late in August at the Moscow Motor Show. Designed specifically for competition (and not based on an existing road car), the Renault Sport Trophy is being built by Dallara around a carbon monocoque chassis, with a Nismo engine channeling over 500 horsepower through a Sadev seven-speed sequential transmission. Michelin is developing the racing slicks and the whole package is set to weigh around 2,500 lbs.

Renault sets 'Ring record with new Megane RS 275 Trophy-R [w/video]

Clocking a lap time of less than eight minutes on the Nürburgring is a real feat in just about any car. But a front-driver? That's the gauntlet that Seat threw down March when it hustled its new Leon Cupra 280 around the Nordschleife in 7:58.4, knocking Renault off its perch for the quickest front-drive lap of the famous German track. In doing so, Seat practically handed Renault - which had claimed the record time and time again - an embossed invitation to beat its time, and Renault was only too happy to oblige.
The French automaker known overseas as le roi des hot-hatches proclaimed in April that it was gunning for a sub-eight-minute lap time of its own, showed us what it was working on in May and revealed the new Mégane 275 Trophy just a month ago. The enhanced hot hatch, we assumed, would be the one with which it would reclaim its title, but that job actually belongs to the even more extreme version you see here.
Called the Mégane RS 275 Trophy-R, Renault's new flagship performance model takes the place once occupied by the previous Mégane R26.R as the ultimate front-drive track tool. Its 2.0-liter naturally aspirated four is tuned to the same 275 horsepower as the aforementioned 275 Trophy and packs the same Cup chassis, limited-slip differential, titanium Akrapovic exhaust, Öhlins adjustable dampers and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, but does away with the rear seats, replaces the front ones with Recaro composite racing buckets and six-point harnesses, fits a lightweight lithium-ion battery and replaces the stock brakes with larger but lighter steel and aluminum discs.

Renault and Caterham officially dissolve Alpine partnership

It was a nice idea while it lasted, but evidently it wasn't meant to be. The joint venture established between Renault and Caterham to launch a new sports car has now come to a crashing halt.
The partnership was forged in 2012 against the backdrop of increasing ties between the two companies: the Caterham F1 team was running Renault engines, Tony Fernandes wanted to put Renault engines in the road-going Caterham Seven, there was talk of collaborating on all manner of vehicles and a sports car seemed like a natural place to start. Société des Automobiles Alpine Caterham was established at the historic Alpine factory in Dieppe, France, with each partner holding 50 percent. The goal was to launch a pair of sports cars to be based on common architecture but differentiated for sale by both partners by 2016.
Unfortunately, tensions began to flare between the English and French parties to the joint venture earlier this year. Disagreements emerged over certain parameters, and development was delayed. Now Renault and Caterham have announced the dissolution of the joint venture altogether.

Ghosn predicts autonomous cars on the roads by 2018, if laws allow

Things appear to be going well inside Nissan's autonomous vehicle development program. Until now, the automaker believed that self-driving cars would be ready for major markets like the US by 2020. However, Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn is now speeding up that prediction to 2018 in some places, assuming that local laws are ready to accept the computer-controlled vehicles.
"The problem isn't technology, it's legislation, and the whole question of responsibility that goes with these cars moving around," said Ghosn in a speech in France recorded by Reuters. He predicted that the first sales could begin in France, Japan and the US by 2018 and expand elsewhere in 2020.
The alliance has been among the forefront of automakers working on self-driving cars. Nissan has an autonomous Leaf (pictured above) test car that is licensed to drive on Japanese roads. Renault showed off an version of its Zoe EV earlier this year called the Next Two, that could pilot itself at speeds up to 18 miles per hour, and that the company predicted would be ready by 2020.

1928 Renault Type NN Tourer from Indiana Jones up for auction

It's uncommon for a film's sequel to surpass the original, and it's even rarer for the third movie in a series to be the best. However, that's arguably the case with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Its perfect combination of exciting action set pieces, humor and great performances from Harrison Ford and Sean Connery might make it the pinnacle of the franchise. Now, a 1928 Renault Type NN Tourer with an on-screen role in one of the film's major scenes is heading to auction in the UK from Historics at Brooklands.
The Renault shows up in the fantastic tank chase scene late in the film where Donovan, the villain, rides in it for a time. For Indiana Jones filming in Spain, the car was painted and made to look dirty, but when the movie finished, it went to the UK for a repaint and engine rebuild.
The Type NN has humble beginnings for a movie star. Its design is quite utilitarian with a four-door tourer body, but the rear seats and interior panels are removable to expose its wooden floorboards and convert it into a makeshift pickup. That way, French farmers could load it with produce during the week and use it as a family car on the weekends. A four-cylinder engine with a claimed 50-mile-per-hour top speed might make tank chasing somewhat difficult in real life.

Renault brings touch of F1 to your grocery shopping

Have you every been in the grocery store after watching an exciting race on TV and you started sliding the shopping cart around corners and clipping apexes, until you scared an old lady buying flour? That could be just us, but apparently Renault understands the feeling.
The company has a new ad campaign that claims there is a dash of Formula One in every car it makes. To prove it, the automaker is ambushing unsuspecting French Renault drivers doing their grocery shopping, then making believe they have earned the pole position in a grand prix. Umbrella girls and all. Scroll down get a taste of the experience in the video.

Renaultsport ready to attack the 'Ring with new M?gane 275 Trophy

Competition improves the breed. So goes the old saying, but if there's ever been an example of that axiom put into action, surely it's the new Renault Mégane RS 275 Trophy.
The story of Renaultsport's latest hot hatch starts in 2008, back when the French automaker lapped the Nürburgring in 8:16.9 with its stripped-out Mégane R26.R. That record went pretty much unchallenged until Renault itself raised the bar even further with the new Mégane Trophy in 2011, a car that scored a lap time of 8:07.9. Then the competition started taking note. Honda started talking about beating the record with its upcoming Civic Type R, but Seat is the one that knocked Renault off the top of the leaderboard with its 7:58.4 in the new Leon Cupra 280.
Renault wasn't happy, but set about rising to the challenge when it proclaimed a thinly veiled threat to clock a sub-8-minute lap time of its own, teasing its development thereafter. And this is the vehicle with which it intends to do so.

Carlos Ghosn returns as president of ACEA

The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (abbreviated ACEA in French) is an industry group representing all the biggest automakers in Europe, representing their common interests on the world stage. And as such it needs a leader, figurehead and mouthpiece to serve as its president, and for the second time the association's board of directors has chosen Carlos Ghosn.
Now if you're recognizing Ghosn as the CEO of Nissan and wondering what that has to do with European cars, it's not because Nissan manufactures much in Europe. In fact, it only operates has a handful of locations in Europe: one in the UK, one in Barcelona and one in St Petersburg. But you'd be wise to recall that Ghosn also serves as CEO of Renault, one of the biggest players in European automobile manufacturing. He also sits on the boards at Russian automaker AvtoVAZ (of which Renault owns 25 percent) and of his native Brazil's Banco Itaú, not to mention the advisory councils of a handful of universities - two of them from his ancestral hometown of Beirut. He previously served as president of ACEA in 2009, and was re-elected to replace outgoing PSA chairman Philippe Varin.
Alongside Renault, ACEA membership includes BMW, Daimler, Fiat, Jaguar Land Rover, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Volkswagen and Volvo, along with the European divisions of Ford, General Motors, Hyundai and Toyota, as well as a handful of truck manufacturers.

Morocco offering 'cash for clunkers' program for Mercedes W123 taxis

As the models continue to grow older, the Ford Crown Victoria is slowly but surely disappearing from US cities as the prevailing taxicab. The same thing is happening in Morocco with its huge fleet of Mercedes-Benz W123-chassis taxis thanks to a little help from the government. The authorities cite safety and environmental reasons for the decades-old sedans to be removed from the road in a cash-for-clunkers-style program slated to start by the end of the year.
According to Ran When Parked, there are about 55,000 W123 taxis operating in Morocco. The body style was built throughout the '70s and '80s with a variety of gasoline and diesel engines, and they earned a reputation for doing high miles with great reliability. The cab drivers like them because they can cram several people in and still fit on the crowded streets. To stop the stream of old Mercedes cabs, the country's government made it quite expensive to import vehicles more than five years old.
In addition to improving air quality, the cash-for-clunkers program might stimulate local business. Renault and Dacia operate a factory in Tangier, Morocco, that builds some vans, including the Dacia Dokker. Ran When Parked claims the authorities would give drivers about 50,000 Dirhams ($6,100) to trade in their cars, and Renault would provide an additional 10,000 Dirhams ($1,200) to switch to one of its vehicles. Maybe it's finally time for the W123 to pass the torch...