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France's Macron says Renault-Nissan partnership is a 'jewel' to be strengthened

TOKYO — French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday called for further synergies and alliances to strengthen the Renault-Nissan partnership in a global market. "The Renault-Nissan alliance is a jewel in the industry," Macron told French expatriates in Tokyo. "We created a giant which we must not only preserve but develop synergies and alliances to strengthen it in the face of international competition." His comments appeared to leave open the possibility both of a deeper integration of the 20-year-old Renault-Nissan alliance, which has been shaken by the scandal over its former chief Carlos Ghosn, and tie-ups with other manufacturers. Last month, Renault and Italian-American group Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced they were in merger talks. But the discussions were called off after FCA grew frustrated with the role the French state was playing, especially its need to secure agreement from Nissan over how to move the merger forward. Since the break-off of the FCA talks, Renault executives have been looking to rebuild ties with Nissan, which is keen to reduce the influence the French state has in the alliance via its 15% stake in Renault. Renault owns 43% of the Japanese automaker, which in turn holds a 15%, non-voting stake in its partner. Nissan on Tuesday threw cold water on hopes for a quick fix to strained relations with France's Renault SA , saying inequality between the partners could unravel their two-decade-old automaking alliance. Macron said on Wednesday France would remain vigilant that Carlos Ghosn's presumption of innocence and the former Renault-Nissan leader's rights to defend himself in a Japanese lawcase are respected. "It's not up to the French president to interfere publicly in a judicial case," Macron said. "Japanese justice is independent." "We will be vigilant, just like with all our citizens across the world who have to answer to the law, through consular activity, so that the defendant's rights and presumption of innocence are respected in that case."

Recharge Wrap-up: EV taxis in Amsterdam, Montreal's electric carsharing goals

Amsterdam has become the electric taxi capital of the world. Taxi Electric, TCA, and Connexxion each operate electric cabs around the city, including 170 Nissan Leaf and e-NV200 taxis. Taxi Electric started with three Nissan Leafs in 2011, and the idea has caught on. Businesses are saving money on fuel and maintenance, garnering attention and new clients for themselves and doing their part to help reduce emissions and improve local air quality. The city of Amsterdam hopes to be emissions-free by 2025, and is building more and more charging stations to this end. This helps make the city the perfect home for the electric cabs. See the video above and read more from Nissan. Montreal is calling for a large electric carsharing program. Mayor Denis Coderre says that he'd like the city to be seen as a leader in electric transportation. His vision includes a carsharing program of 250 electric vehicles by next spring, growing to 1,000 EVs by 2020. This would help Montreal reach its goal of cutting the city's greenhouse gas emissions by a third over the next five years. The city also wants to build new charging infrastructure to make the carsharing plan, as well as individual EV ownership, easier to achieve. Currently, carsharing group Communauto operates a fleet of 40 EVs in Montreal. Read more at Treehugger. Enterprise Carshare has joined the nonprofit CarSharing Association. The car rental company's carsharing business made the announcement at the 2015 International Car Rental Show, during a session called "The Convergence of Car Sharing and Car Rental." "Enterprise CarShare is a well-established player in the industry and we're glad to have their help in expanding support for sustainable urban mobility in communities around the world," says CarSharing Association Executive Director Alan Woodland. Read more from Enterprise in the press release below. Enterprise CarShare Joining CarSharing Association LAS VEGAS (April 15, 2015) – Enterprise CarShare formally announced yesterday – at the 2015 International Car Rental Show – that it has joined the CarSharing Association, a not-for-profit organization committed to advancing cooperation between urban mobility providers, cities and public transit. The announcement was made during a Car Rental Show session titled, "The Convergence of Car Sharing and Car Rental," which highlighted the important role that the car rental industry plays in the evolution of urban mobility.

Nissan teases New York-bound 2015 Murano

It was over a month ago when we received reports that Nissan would be unveiling the new Murano at the New York Auto Show next month. Now the Japanese automaker has confirmed its imminent arrival, offering up the brief teaser clip below to give us a very faint idea of what to expect.
In announcing the Murano's upcoming debut in Manhattan, the company described the Murano as "the halo vehicle for Nissan's expanding range of bold crossovers and SUVs," previewing the design that will distinguish a whole range of Nissans to follow.
Short of that, we've got little to go on, but we're expecting to see some traits from the Resonance concept of 2013 Detroit vintage finding their way onto the production version of a vehicle that has always been rather stylized from the start. Something (sales figures, perhaps?) tells us that the oddball CrossCabriolet will get lost along the way, not that we'll mind.