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Nissan Rogue gives brand rare monthly sales lead over Honda

The five top-selling brands in the automotive industry are usually Ford, Toyota, Chevy, Honda and Nissan, in that order. This lineup emerged intact when counting a year's worth of sales for 2013, and there was no reason to expect it would change at the beginning of 2014. But it did. Thanks to surging sales of its all-new Rogue, Nissan managed to pull ahead of Honda to become the fourth best-selling auto brand in January 2014, selling 81,472 units (an increase of 10.41 percent compared to January 2013) to Honda's 80,808 (a decrease of 3.96 percent).
The Rogue led the way for Nissan, contributing an additional 4,880 units in January compared to the same month last year - a 54.5-percent increase for a grand total of 13,831 units. But the Rogue had help, with the Frontier pickup adding an extra 2,307 units (an 87.9-percent increase), the Juke an extra 1,081 units (a 45.8-percent increase), the Altima an extra 1,051 units (a 4.9-percent increase) and the Maxima an additional 983 units (a 32.9-percent increase). Honda, meanwhile, was hurt by falling sales of the Accord (down 13.9 percent) and Pilot (down 7.6 percent), and stagnant sales of the Civic.
Honda, however, should take pride in the fact that it's luxury division, Acura, outsold Infiniti, Nissan's luxury division, last month - 10,823 units sold to 8,998. That margin of victory was large enough to keep the parent company of American Honda ahead of Nissan North America for the month of January.

Nissan unveils ZEOD RC at Nismo HQ in Japan [w/videos]

At Le Mans this past summer, Nissan unveiled the first prototype for the ZEOD RC, a new hybrid racecar which it intends to field at the famous French endurance race next year. Four months have passed since then, totaling eight month of development, and now Nissan has revealed the final form at the headquarters of its Nismo racing division.
The updated Nissan ZEOD RC benefits from a more streamlined shape with optimized cooling and improved aerodynamics. Although billed as an electric vehicle and not a hybrid, the ZEOD RC pairs a 1.6-liter turbo four with a pair of electric motors. Its regenerative braking system is derived from the Leaf RC, and after 11 laps, it's said to be capable of taking another around the Circuit de la Sarthe under electric power alone, making it the first racecar capable of doing so. Nissan has further stated that it hopes the lessons it garners from this project will help in its development of a new LMP1 to challenge for overall victory at Le Mans in the near future.
The ZEOD RC will be on display at Fuji Speedway this weekend during the six-hour FIA World Endurance Championship race there, after which it will continue its development at the hands of former GT1 champion Michael Krumm and gamer-turned-racer Lucas Ordonez, who will be getting it ready for (and possibly drive it at) next year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. There it will compete - faster than most GTE sportscars, says Nissan - in the Garage 56 spot that once was awarded to the DeltaWing, which Nissan sponsored and to which the ZEOD RC looks conspicuously similar.

Nissan wants French State out of its alliance with Renault

While it's called the Renault-Nissan Alliance, the French side actually throws around a lot of weight in the relationship, and the government there is the largest shareholder. Meanwhile, the Japanese company generates about two-thirds of the sales. As leader of both automakers, Carlos Ghosn is reportedly now working to put more control into the Nissan side, according to insiders speaking to Reuters. The French State is expected to fight hard against losing sway. The government in France prompted Ghosn's distrust after buying up 19.7 percent of Renault's stock, from a previous 15 percent. Officials snubbed the CEO by giving him just a few hours notice, according to Reuters. Now, the boss is looking for ways to mitigate state control, but to make this plan happen Ghosn needs formal approval from the Renault board. If successful, the proposed plan would overhaul the close partnership between the automakers. Whereas the French side currently has the final say in decisions, this move would grant both of them equal power. In addition, Nissan would become the largest owner of Renault, but the French wouldn't have the same control over its Japanese ally. The French government isn't ready to just hand over power to Ghosn, though, because it reportedly wants to protect jobs in the country. The Alliance "must not be destabilized by governance changes or adjustments that could also lead to conflicts of interest," Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said to Reuters. Clearly, this fight is just beginning. Related Video: