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Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa resigns, successor to be named

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Nissan Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa tendered his resignation Monday after acknowledging that he had received dubious income and vowed to pass the leadership of the Japanese automaker to a new generation. Board member Yasushi Kimura told reporters at an evening news conference at company headquarters in Yokohama that the board has approved Saikawa's resignation, effective Sept. 16, and a successor will be appointed next month. A search is underway, he added. Calls for Saikawa's resignation, which arose after the arrest last year of his predecessor, Carlos Ghosn, on various financial misconduct allegations, have grown louder after Saikawa acknowledged last week that he had received dubious payments. The income was linked to the stock price of Nissan Motor Co., and he has said his pay got inflated by illicitly adjusting the date for cashing in. The automaker's board met to look into the allegations against Saikawa, as well as other issues related to Ghosn's allegations and corporate ethics at the company. Kimura said the income Saikawa had received was confirmed as "not illegal." Ghosn, who is out on bail and awaiting trial, says he's innocent. Kimura and three other board members, who all have backgrounds outside the company, said their investigation of the scandal over Ghosn's arrest found that alleged misconduct by Ghosn and Greg Kelly, a former board member who was also arrested, had caused 35 billion yen ($350 million) in damage to the company. Nissan will seek a repayment of the damages, Kimura said. The board said about 10 candidates are being considered as a replacement for Saikawa. They did not identify them, but said outsiders and non-Japanese are on the list. Until a successor is decided, Chief Operating Officer Yasuhiro Yamauchi will serve as interim chief, the board said. Saikawa has not been charged. "I have been trying to do what needs to be done so that I can pass the baton over as soon as possible," he told reporters earlier in the day, referring to his willingness to leave his job. Saikawa did not appear at the news conference initially, but the four board members who led the event said he would later. Saikawa has said he didn't know about the improprieties, promised to return the money and blamed the system he said Ghosn had created at Nissan for the dubious payments. Japanese media reports said Saikawa had received tens of millions of yen (hundreds of thousands of dollars) in extra compensation.

NHTSA, IIHS, and 20 automakers to make auto braking standard by 2022

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and virtually every automaker in the US domestic market have announced a pact to make automatic emergency braking standard by 2022. Here's the full rundown of companies involved: BMW, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo (not to mention the brands that fall under each automaker's respective umbrella). Like we reported yesterday, AEB will be as ubiquitous in the future as traction and stability control are today. But the thing to note here is that this is not a governmental mandate. It's truly an agreement between automakers and the government, a fact that NHTSA claims will lead to widespread adoption three years sooner than a formal rule. That fact in itself should prevent up to 28,000 crashes and 12,000 injuries. The agreement will come into effect in two waves. For the majority of vehicles on the road – those with gross vehicle weights below 8,500 pounds – AEB will need to be standard equipment by September 1, 2022. Vehicles between 8,501 and 10,000 pounds will have an extra three years to offer AEB. "It's an exciting time for vehicle safety. By proactively making emergency braking systems standard equipment on their vehicles, these 20 automakers will help prevent thousands of crashes and save lives," said Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx said in an official statement. "It's a win for safety and a win for consumers." Read on for the official press release from NHTSA. Related Video: U.S. DOT and IIHS announce historic commitment of 20 automakers to make automatic emergency braking standard on new vehicles McLEAN, Va. – The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety announced today a historic commitment by 20 automakers representing more than 99 percent of the U.S. auto market to make automatic emergency braking a standard feature on virtually all new cars no later than NHTSA's 2022 reporting year, which begins Sept 1, 2022. Automakers making the commitment are Audi, BMW, FCA US LLC, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Maserati, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Tesla Motors Inc., Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo Car USA.

2019 Infiniti QX50 starts fresh with a new face and trick engine

Last week, Infiniti rolled out the refresh of the big daddy QX80 in Dubai. At this year's Los Angeles Auto Show, the Japanese automaker is poised to reveal something that's bound to be far more mainstream: the 2019 Infiniti QX50 and its trick variable compression turbocharged engine, or VC-T. In addition to the new engine, the QX50 drops rear-wheel drive in favor of an all-new front-wheel-drive platform and gets the new ProPilot assist technology that debuted on the Nissan Leaf. The QX50 may be the headliner, but the engine is the really interesting bit. This 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four can adjust the stroke of the pistons on the fly, varying the engine's compression from 8:1 to 14:1, and giving the new midsize crossover improved efficiency and diesel-like torque. It's rated at 268 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, down 57 horses but up 14 pound-feet. Front-wheel-drive models hit 60 mph in 6.7 seconds. That drops to 6.2 seconds with all-wheel drive. Combined fuel economy is 27 mpg for front-wheel-drive QX50s and 26 mpg for all-wheel-drive variants, both up from the abysmal 20 mpg combined rating of the current model. Power is sent through a continuously variable transmission. If it's like other Nissan and Infiniti CVTs, it will be inoffensive if a bit lifeless. We've covered the details of this powertrain extensively already, but it's great to see companies giving more life to the internal combustion engine. The new platform marks a big improvement over the outgoing QX50 in terms of platform rigidity and space efficiency. Rear-wheel drive might be fun, but it's never ideal from a packaging perspective. Cargo capacity is up from 31.6 cubic-feet to 37 cubic-feet. With the seats down, the space expands to 60 cubic feet, up from 50.1 cubic feet. That's not exactly class-leading, but it's no longer among the class-worst. The 2019 QX50 will use a new type of high-tensile steel, improving torsional rigidity by 23 percent and shaving overall weight. The styling falls in line with most other Infiniti products. The outgoing model had a bit of an identity crisis, looking more like a lifted wagon than a fully-realized crossover (it was, after all, essentially a G35/G37 wagon). This new one has much more conventional SUV proportions. In fact, it looks like a 7/8-scale version of the new QX80 with a front-wheel-drive profile. That's either good news or bad news, depending on where your tastes fall.