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DoJ fines Japanese parts firms $740M in massive automotive price-fixing scandal

Nine Japanese suppliers have pleaded guilty in US court over charges of price fixing in the automotive parts industry, resulting in the Department of Justice doling out a total of $740 million of fines, according to a report from Bloomberg. The scandal, which has resulted in General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Chrysler spending up to $5 billion on inflated parts and driving up prices on 25 million vehicles has sent the DoJ hustling into investigations. "The conduct this investigation uncovered involved more than a dozen separate conspiracies aimed at the U.S. economy," Attorney General Eric Holder (pictured above) said during yesterday's press conference.
As the investigation stands, the DoJ has issued $1.6 billion in fines against 20 companies and 21 individual executives, with 17 of the execs headed to prison. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Scott Hammond said, "The breadth of the conspiracies brought to light today are as egregious as they are pervasive. They involve more than a dozen separate conspiracies operating independently but all sharing in common that they targeted US automotive manufacturers."
Big-name suppliers indicted in the investigation include Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hitachi Automotive and Mitsuba Corporation. A list of fines and other corporations named in the investigation is available at Bloomberg.

WM Motors releases renderings based on Mitsubishi photos

An interesting gaffe has reared its head as WM Motors has published the first images depicting its new car portfolio. The renders showing Chinese electric vehicle startup's future cars appear to have been based on Mitsubishi Outlander press photos, as discovered by Electrek's Fred Lambert. It is one thing to show mere renders of future cars – that is certainly widely accepted, as the cars are planned to be launched in 2018 at the earliest – but it's the background that gives away how the renders are based on doctored Mitsubishi shots. Details are shared between the Outlander and WM Motors' rendering, with wheels, mirrors and doorhandles directly lifted off the Mitsu; in practice, the comparison shots become a pastime of "spot the similarities." The SUV is said to be designed by a former Bentley and Volkswagen designer, Sam Sun, but it is not yet clear whether he meant the production vehicle to share its decorative rear diffuser panel with a Mitsubishi. Perhaps these were work images never really meant for official publication, as they handily show the SUV's dimensions on the road. In addition to Electrek, Google seems to also be on the game, as a reverse image search on the VM Motor shots produces Mitsubishi suggestions. According to Car News China, which circulated the images, WM stands for either Weltmeister (world champion in German), or weima in Chinese, which means a powerful horse. The company is spearheaded by Freeman Shen, formerly of Geely, and the Suzhou factory is planned to produce 50,000 cars per year starting in 2018. There is talk of the cars featuring Huawei connectivity technology, with the hardware being produced together with the German companies Bosch and Siemens. Related Video: Featured Gallery VW Motor Mitsubishi News Source: Electrek Green Weird Car News Mitsubishi Green Automakers SUV Electric

2015 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport gets modest styling, powertrain enhancements

Mitsubishi sales continue to show progress in 2014. In fact, sales were up 54.17 percent in the US in May compared to last year. In hopes of keeping those numbers in the black, the Japanese automaker is introducing some mechanical upgrades to the Outlander Sport, its best-selling model, for the 2015 model year.
The biggest change for the 2015 Outlander Sport is its improved CVT that offers better fuel economy. Front-wheel-drive models with the upgraded CVT get an estimated improvement of 1 mile per gallon across the board to 25 mpg city, 32 mpg highway, and 28 mpg combined; all-wheel drive models get an estimated 1 mpg better on the highway and in the combined rating, bringing the numbers up to 24/30/27 mpg. Mitsubishi claims the new transmission is the equivalent of fitting the Outlander Sport with a seven-speed automatic. The five-speed manual is still also available on the front-wheel drive ES trim, rated at 24 mpg city and 30 mpg highway. All models also get electric power steering, and the company reports that the 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine is enhanced as well, but still makes the same 148 horsepower and 145 pound-feet of torque from last year.
The 2015 Outlander Sport also sees some very minor aesthetic improvements. The audio panel inside now has piano black and silver trim, and the SE trim comes with LED running lights. Also, the interior gets thicker glass in the side windows and more noise insulation for a quieter ride.