2009 Nissan Altima S Sedan 4-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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Renault to Nissan: Stop trying to contact our board members

TOKYO/PARIS — Renault told alliance partner Nissan to stop contacting the French company's directors ahead of a Thursday board meeting as the Japanese automaker tried to share evidence of wrongdoing by its ousted chairman, Carlos Ghosn, two sources said. Ever since Ghosn's Nov. 19 arrest in Japan, Renault and the French government, the automaker's biggest shareholder, have demanded to see the findings of a Nissan internal investigation that include allegations of financial misconduct by the 64-year-old executive. Ghosn was charged on Monday in Japan for failing to declare deferred income he had agreed to receive for the five years ending March 2015. While Nissan fired him as chairman days after his arrest, he remains chairman and CEO of its French partner. Renault's board meets on Dec. 13, and the findings of Nissan's investigation will be shared at the meeting where Ghosn's future could be also debated, one of the sources with knowledge of the matter said. The French firm told Nissan not to contact its directors ahead of the meeting, because such contact was outside the agreed channels for communication of the sensitive findings, the source said. Nissan offered last week to brief Renault's board about findings on what it considers proof of wrongdoing by Ghosn, said a second source who has knowledge of the matter but declined to be identified as it was confidential. But Renault advised Nissan to brief its lawyers instead, which led to a meeting between the Japanese firm's officials and Renault's legal teams early this week in Paris, the person said. The Japanese automaker later invited Thierry Bollore, who was named Renault's deputy CEO with the same powers as Ghosn a day after his arrest, as well as board members, to examine the contents of the findings, said the source. Bollore, though, told Nissan on Tuesday to "refrain from contacting the board," the source said. The exchange between Renault and Nissan is another example of the testy relationship between the two automakers, despite assurances by executives on both sides to preserve the alliance. The alliance, of which Ghosn has been the driving force, is widely seen as vital for the members' long-term survival. Board members invited to see the evidence included Martin Vial, who heads the French state shareholdings agency, interim Chairman Philippe Lagayette and independent director Patrick Thomas, the second source said. A Renault spokesperson declined to comment.

GM, UAW poaching Nissan workers in Tennessee

General Motors and the United Auto Workers are going on a recruitment drive at the Spring Hill factory in Tennessee, and they're hoping to poach some skilled workers from Nissan's nearby plant in Smyrna, TN. The General and the union even bought a billboard advertising for industrial electricians near the Japanese automaker's facility, according to the Daily News Journal. The reason for the billboard was simple. "GM was short of electricians," said Tim Stannard, the president of the UAW local at Spring Hill, to the Daily News Journal. The factory currently builds the Chevrolet Equinox but has a contract to assemble the next generation of Ecotec engines and the Cadillac XT5, which replaces the SRX. Thanks to the $185-million deal, employment there is expected to double by May 2016, according to Stannard, with roughly 1,800 additional union jobs. Beyond just several billboards, GM has job postings online for the Spring Hill plant looking for workers with specific skills. There has already been some interest in the positions among Nissan employees, Stannard indicated. According to a recent study by the Center for Automotive Research, the average GM worker currently makes $58 an hour, including benefits. Comparatively, Nissan pays an average of $42 an hour with benefits. The General's number could change in the coming weeks because its contract with the UAW is about to expire, and higher wages are among the major negotiating points.

Nissan Juke-R [w/video]

The Other Brother
The handler strapped into the carbon fiber race bucket next to me is the only other person outside of yours truly who looks like he thinks this is a bad idea. I've just finished situating myself in the cabin of the very first Nissan Juke-R ever constructed. There are literally thousands of man hours in this single prototype and only four examples of the car total in the entire world. Each one carries a price tag of around $656,400 at current conversion rates, making this both the rarest and most expensive piece of machinery anyone has ever let me get close enough to sniff, let alone drive.
And that's exactly what I mean to do.