2013 Nissan Sentra Sv on 2040-cars

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The Carlos and Dieter Show promises more collaboration

Daimler and Renault-Nissan said Friday the automakers have expanded their four-year-old alliance to include putting a Renault diesel in the Mercedes C-Class, a Mercedes gasoline engine in an Infiniti and possibly will involve automated driving technologies in the near future. At a joint Paris Motor Show press conference dubbed 'The Carlos and Dieter Show' by European media, Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn and Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said the alliance between the automakers is running strong and will expand into any area that makes financial sense for both companies.
Ghosn and Zetsche said the alliance between the automakers is running strong and will expand into any area that makes financial sense for both companies.
Daimler and Renault-Nissan began their partnership in 2010 with plans to collaborate on three projects. They've since expanded that and are working on 12 projects together, including building a joint plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Renault-Nissan and Daimler are launching their first vehicles developed together from scratch: the Renault Twingo (which went on sale in September) and the new Smart Fortwo and Smart Forfour, which go on sale in November.

Ghosn: 'While I'm proud of our EV leadership, I know it's not enough.'

Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has written something like a State of the Union on electric vehicles and the carbon economy. We'd sum it up as, 'we're working on it but we all need to work harder.' Ghosn believes all of the commitments made at the Paris COP21 climate change conference are a start, but "the support of the business community is imperative," in coordination with the public sector. He stresses that he's after an "orderly transition," one that uses what we have now in order to go where many believe we need to go. That means no threats or revolution, no "aggressive government intervention and centralized demand and control," but rather a "practical, affordable way to begin reducing dependence" on the fuel that turns the skies brown. Ghosn wraps up his manifesto this way: "The UN Secretary General recently said that we are the first generation to feel the effects of climate change and the last to be able to do anything to stop it. This is a call to action, and the auto industry is committed to doing its part." Based on the undeniable shift toward the electrification of the automobile, we know that the call is being answered. Given the limited market share EVs have today, it could still use some more people and companies picking up the phone. With vehicle numbers expected to grow from 800 million to more than two billion by 2050, "transition will occur one way or another," Ghosn writes. Head over to Forbes to read Ghosn's thoughts.

Nismo mashes it up with Sentra 370Z and Altima GT-R

Nismo was a tuning division once content (or required) to restrict itself to just one or two models at a time, but these days Nissan is taking the gloves off and allowing its motorsport department to tune just about everything's it's got.
Now in its thirtieth year, Nismo tunes versions of the GT-R, 370Z, Juke and Versa Note, and will soon be working its magic on the Sentra and European-market Qashqai and Pulsar. And that's not even taking into account its considerable racing programs. At this rate, Nismo is going to run out of vehicles to tune pretty quickly, so what has it done? Invent new ones!
No, we're afraid that Nissan is not letting its Nismo division produce its own stand-alone product, but it has released two sets of amusing renderings combining two vehicles into one. One depicts a GT-R crossed with a Teana sedan (better known in these parts at the Altima), while the other crosses a Sentra with a 370Z.