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Nissan board meets but doesn't pick a replacement for Ghosn

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Nissan's board met Monday but failed to pick a new chairman to replace Carlos Ghosn, who was arrested last month on charges of violating financial regulations, saying more discussion was needed. Nissan Motor Co. Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa told reporters that the board approved a special committee of outsiders to strengthen governance at the company. A date for the selection of a chairman was not decided. "We plan to be cautious in this process, and I do not plan to rush this," Saikawa said. The recommendations for beefing up governance are due in March, and Saikawa said he was willing to wait until then to choose a chairman. The board meeting came amid an unfolding scandal that threatens the Japanese automaker's two-decade alliance with Renault SA of France and its global brand, and highlights shoddy governance at the manufacturer of the Leaf electric car. Related: Carlos Ghosn coup theory grows: Did Nissan set him up for a fall? Ghosn and another board member Greg Kelly were formally charged last week with falsifying financial reports in underreporting Ghosn's income by about 5 billion yen ($44 million) from 2011 to 2015. They were arrested Nov. 19 by Tokyo prosecutors and remain in detention. A source close to Ghosn's family says Ghosn is innocent, as the alleged income was never decided upon or paid. Aubrey Harwell, the U.S. lawyer for Kelly, an American, says he is innocent, and that Nissan insiders and outside experts had advised him that the financial reporting was proper. The chairman must be selected from among the board members. Three outside board members — race-car driver Keiko Ihara; Masakazu Toyoda, an academic; and Jean-Baptiste Duzan, formerly of Renault — are making that decision. The special committee for governance includes the three outside board members and four other outsiders, including former judge Seiichiro Nishioka. One candidate for chairman is Saikawa, who was hand-picked by Ghosn to succeed him as chief executive. He has denounced Ghosn and Kelly as the "masterminds" in a scheme to falsify income reports and abuse company money and assets. Renault has kept Ghosn as chief executive and chairman, saying its investigation has not found wrongdoing in the awarding of Ghosn's compensation. Saikawa called on directors at Renault to heed its reasons for sacking Ghosn, but Renault's interim chairman Philippe Lagayette said on Friday that its board had not considered a replacement.

Mitsubishi Motors halts some SUV sales in Japan as MPG scandal grows

Mitsubishi's fuel-economy scandal is going from bad to worse. First, the Japanese automaker claimed it lied about the fuel economy for a few kei cars, then it claimed fuel economy tests for as far back as 1991 could reveal mile-per-gallon figures that were tampered with. In May the automaker, admitted that every single vehicle it's sold in Japan could be affected by the fuel-economy scandal. Now, the Japanese automaker revealed that more of its vehicles were involved in the fuel-economy cheating scandal – and one of them is sold in the US. After completing its investigation into the automaker's fuel-economy scandal, Japan's Transport Ministry found that Mitsubishi overstated the fuel economy for eight more vehicles in marketing brochures, one of which is sold as the Outlander Sport in the US, reports Automotive News. The Transport Ministry ordered Mitsubishi to stop domestic sales of the models, which include the Pajero, Outlander, and RVR SUV (known as the Outlander Sport in the US). The latest finding adds to four kei cars that were previously noted for having overstated fuel economy figures earlier this year. Japan's sixth-largest automaker is having a hard time recuperating since the scandal broke earlier this April. The initial scandal led to the automaker suspending its sales, which caused a large dip in the automaker's market value. The scandal required Mitsubishi to seek financial assistance from Nissan, which agreed to buy a controlling 34-percent stake for $2.2 billion. Investigators hired by Mitsubishi to look into the automaker's overstated fuel economy figures revealed the company's "corporate culture" as the issue. More specifically, the investigators founds the company's pressure to improve fuel-efficiency figures, a lack of unity between divisions, and an unwillingness to accept fuel economy shortfalls as the reason for falsifying its vehicles' mpg figures. Mitsubishi is expected to compensate Japanese owners for the overstated fuel economy figures, which would result in a massive loss for the automaker. The company is expected to post a net loss of roughly $1.4 billion this year, pushing Mitsubishi into the red for the first time in approximately eight years. Related Video: News Source: Automotive News-sub.req.Image Credit: Tomohiro Ohsumi / Bloomberg via Getty Images Government/Legal Green Mitsubishi Nissan Fuel Efficiency kei car scandal

10 automakers shack up in Detroit hotel to talk Takata airbags

Since Takata has decided not to take the lead concerning potential issues with its airbag inflators, the automakers have. Perhaps that's unsurprising, since it's the automakers, not Takata, that will take a beating on the dealership floor if consumers decide its models are a health hazards. The Detroit News reports that Toyota, Honda, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Mazda, BMW, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Subaru met in a hotel conference room near the Detroit Metropolitan Airport last week to sort out a way to understand the technical issues involved. So far, faulty airbag inflators have been ruled the cause of five deaths and 50 injuries around the world, but neither Takata nor investigators understands exactly why the inflators are malfunctioning. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently asked Takata to issue a national recall, Takata declined, citing a minuscule failure rate and the fact that it's still investigating the issue. Toyota and Honda then made an industry-wide appeal for "a coordinated, comprehensive testing program" that would pinpoint the problem inflators and get them replaced, and that's what the Detroit meeting was about. Numerous issues, however, will make this a long row to hoe: simply getting the parts to replace the nearly 20 million inflators in cars recalled around the world so far - even working with other suppliers - will take a years, but more importantly, no one knows if the replacement inflators currently being installed will suffer the same issue. Answers will hopefully come quickly with Takata, the ten automakers and NHTSA all independently investigating the problem.