1998 Nissan Cedric Brougham on 2040-cars

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Renault COO Tavares dreams of running GM or Ford

What do you do if you're in a job with no upward mobility? Admittedly, most of us just stick it out while secretly hoping our boss is sacked for all those paperclips he's been swiping, netting us a nice, shiny promotion. Then again, most of us aren't the number two at Renault, like Carlos Tavares.
Tavares is the right-hand man to Renault CEO, Carlos Ghosn, and like a lot of us, he's ready for another challenge. As Ghosn is only 59 years old and doesn't have a boss to fire him for paperclip theft, though, it's pretty unlikely that he'll be going anywhere anytime soon. Tavares doesn't seem too concerned, based on an interview he gave to Automotive News. "We have a big leader and he is here to stay," Tavares told AN.
What's surprising is where Tavares wants to go, "Why not GM? I would be honored to lead a company like GM." The Renault exec also mentioned Ford, and as AN points out, both organizations make a lot of sense. Both are led by CEOs that are approaching or are already past retirement age, and should be looking for dedicated replacements in the not-so-distant future. That doesn't mean Tavares is a shoe-in, though.

Watch some vintage F1 cars blast up a Japanese mountain road

It's a rare treat to see classic Formula One cars racing anywhere, but watching them on a Japanese mountain road is absolutely sublime. The folks behind Motorhead from Japan took over the toll road's twisting stretch of tarmac to turn this impossible dream into a reality. The unusual opportunity of a closed mountain road would be a waste for only two vehicles, and there were plenty of drivers in amazing machines that wanted to blast up the hill. After the vintage F1 cars got their turn, some drifters in a Nissan GT-R and a Toyota GT86 added some tire smoke to the misty mountain air. A couple more GT-R racecars and some modern sports cars eventually joined them. Before the rain hit, this team had quite a party going on. This video features amazing camera work, but the music unfortunately drowns out the chance to hear these amazing racecars. If watching this leaves you wanting more, Motorhead released a video last year of another group of impressive performance vehicles on the mountain road.

Nissan pulled planned reveal of longer-range Leaf from L.A.

The arrest and detention of its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, prompted Nissan at the last minute to pull the plug on plans to debut a longer-range version of its Leaf battery- electric car at the Los Angeles auto show, The Wall Street Journal reports. Nissan instead showed two mild-refresh models for 2019 — the Maxima sedan and the Murano crossover. It had reportedly hoped to make a bigger splash by unveiling the upgraded Leaf with actress and brand ambassador Margot Robbie at a media event at the Japanese American National Museum. It went ahead with an event at the venue, showing current models of the Leaf and holding the Nissan Futures event, the first time the series of panel discussion and keynote addresses had been staged in the U.S., with Robbie sitting down for a brief interview about owning an EV and sustainability issues. "The official announcement regarding details of the 2019 Nissan Leaf with additional performance capabilities is postponed to a later date," the company said in a statement. A spokesman told the Journal the postponement was "to ensure that this important product unveiling could receive the coverage it merits." Ghosn was arrested Nov. 19 in Japan on allegations of financial misconduct, including what Nissan has said was personal use of company money and deliberately under-reporting what he had been paid. Both Nissan and alliance partner Mitsubishi have ousted Ghosn as chairman, though his status remains unchanged for now at Renault, the third member of the partnership where he is both chairman and CEO. Renault has appointed a stand-in replacement while Ghosn remains in custody. Reuters reports that Tokyo authorities extended Ghosn's detention a second time Friday and have until Dec. 10 to file charges or release him. The auto world has been widely anticipating a longer-range version believed to be called the Leaf E-Plus, with a 60-kWh battery pack and an expected driving range of around 225 miles, up from the 40-kWh battery and 151-mile driving range of the current model. A recent report suggests that its starting price will be about $5,500 more than the 40-kWh version, meaning around $36,385 before federal EV tax credits. A spokesman tells Autoblog the postponement doesn't affect the new Leaf's on-sale date but added that date has yet to be announced.