2008 Nissan Armada Se 4x4 8-pass Leather Blk On Blk 65k Texas Direct Auto on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Nissan union wants French to stop meddling with Renault alliance

Nissan is getting some unexpected reinforcements in its ongoing battle with the French government over its involvement in Renault. Its Japanese union, which has traditionally been a very hands-off entity, issued harsh criticism for the French government's attempts to assert control over its alliance partner. According to Bloomberg, this is the first time in 16 years that Nissan's union has weighed on the company's affairs, and it's stating its position on the matter in no uncertain terms. The union called France's attempt at scoring double voting rights within Renault "unacceptable and against the intended spirit of the Alliance." "We support the numerous attempts of Nissan to engage with the French government to find a balanced and constructive solution that will benefit and strengthen the Alliance," the union said in a statement obtained by Reuters. It's unclear what impact the union speaking out will have on the current power struggle between Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn (shown above) and the French government, but we doubt it'll contribute to any quicker of a conclusion. Related Video: News Source: Reuters, BloombergImage Credit: Itsuo Inouye / AP Government/Legal Nissan Renault France renault-nissan alliance

Will Nissan's Cummins deal upset Ram's marketing mojo? [w/poll]

Ram has used Cummins engines in its heavy duty trucks since 1989, and it is the only pickup truck brand to use products from the Indiana-based engine maker. With the announcement that the next Nissan Titan will also use a Cummins powerplant, and a Nissan spokesman having already said "We will definitely leverage the Cummins brand name," a piece in Automotive News wonders whether the deal will affect the way Ram markets its tie-up with Cummins.
The question really is, how intense is this competition? While it is the first time that trucks from two different brands have used Cummins engines, they'll be two different engines in two different kinds of trucks; Nissan is going to put a 5.0-liter turbodiesel in a non-heavy-duty Titan, Ram only uses its 6.7-liter, inline six-cylinder turbodiesel in heavy-duty offerings. The diesel that Ram will offer in its light-duty, half-ton 1500 is a 3.0-liter V6 EcoDiesel with 240 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque - compared to about 300 hp and 550 lb-ft expected from the Titan's Cummins - and its marketing so far has focused on the fuel economy gains.
If Nissan was going to prove its commitment to the segment, it had to do something compelling. If we're talking about sales competition between Ram and Nissan, Ram has sold 201,633 trucks as of July this year, up 24.2 percent, 31,314 of those sales coming last month; Nissan has sold 10,020 Titans through the end of July, down 21.1 percent, and just 1,168 in July itself. Nissan's new truck boss - who hopped there from Ram - said that buyers have asked for a powerful turbodiesel in something other than a heavy duty pickup, and from what we've read on various comment boards, the pickup truck crowd is excited about Nissan's move.

2013 Nissan Pathfinder: April 2013

Not Just For Families
Since our long-term 2013 Nissan Pathfinder joined the Autoblog Garage in late December of last year, the only time I've really spent with it has been during the short periods of time between my co-workers' longer loans. Until now, my experiences with our Mocha Stone tester have been limited to pick-ups and drop-offs at various locations around the greater Michigan/Ohio area, not to mention keeping the vehicle clean inside and out, as well as handling our first bit of scheduled maintenance in late March.
I was pleased, then, to actually be able to spend most of the month of April with our Pathfinder, finally giving me a chance to see what everyone else does and does not like about Nissan's new crossover. But here's the thing: I'm admittedly not the ideal person to test a family-minded vehicle. I'm single and in my late twenties, so something like our other long-term car, the 2013 Hyundai Veloster Turbo, is better suited to meet my everyday needs.