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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.

Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla owner's garage makeover, Lucid signs deal with LG Chem

A Tesla owner has remodeled his garage to resemble a Tesla showroom. The Model S owner, who also runs Teslainventory.com, painted one wall a very specific shade of red, mounted a Tesla logo on it, and even bought the same table and stools used in some showrooms. He also documented the transformation, and gives tips on how other fans can give their own garage a makeover. Check it out in the video above, and read more at Electrek. Lucid Motors will source lithium-ion batteries from LG Chem. Lucid's batteries will use proprietary cell chemistry developed in partnership with LG. Lucid also has a battery supply deal with Samsung SDI for its first vehicle, but says it could use batteries for other companies through its own supply business, or for specific performance variants of its electric sedan. "The differing performance attributes available from the two cell suppliers provide Lucid with maximum flexibility to select the best cell for each application," Lucid says. Read more in the press release, or at Green Car Congress. Nissan, Renault, and Mitsubishi will share an electric vehicle platform. As other automakers are building their own mass market EVs, these three are teaming up in order to be able to offer their own models at prices competitive to their gasoline powered counterparts. According to the Nikkei, EVs from the three companies will all use the same platform as the upcoming 2018 Nissan Leaf, and will share motors, inverters, and batteries. Read more from Reuters, or at Green Car Reports. Related Gallery Lucid Motors EV Prototype News Source: Electrek, YouTube: DAErik, Lucid, Green Car Congress, Reuters, Green Car Reports Green Automakers Mitsubishi Nissan Tesla Renault Green Automakers Green Culture Electric Videos recharge wrapup

The worst rally driver you've ever seen

Fast cars and excellent driving skills might be the easy answers when asking how to succeed in rally racing, but after watching this video, a good teammate is obviously an important aspect of this sport, too. During the 2013 Rally of Coimbatore in India, driver Samir Thapar and his co-driver, Vivek Ponnusamy, didn't seem to be on the same page as the two attempted to navigate the course in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.
We'd probably hear drastically different stories if we talked to Thapar and Ponnusamy about this particular event, but you know things are bad when "stay on road" and "turn the wheel" are commands given by the co-driver (and yes, that's a man running for his life in the screen shot shown above). As it turned out, though, it seems like the Ponnusamy was justified in his concerns to take care of the racecar. Race results show that despite winning three of the seven stages, this team ultimately ended the race with a DNF.
Scroll down to watch the video, and even though it's been edited down from almost 40 minutes to less than four, we get the idea that it wasn't a pleasant experience for driver or co-driver.