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Ghosn out at Nissan, still in at Renault, still in jail in Tokyo and facing more charges

When the corporate jet carrying Renault- Nissan- Mitsubishi CEO Carlos Ghosn landed at Tokyo Haneda airport on November 19, Japanese authorities had already taken position on the tarmac, waiting for him. Police and authorities representing Tokyo prosecutor's office boarded the plane to query Ghosn about financial improprieties, and ended up taking Nissan's chairman and CEO into custody. A few days later, on November 22, Nissan's board voted to remove Ghosn from both positions for what it classified as "significant acts of misconduct." The charges include understating his income in filings to the Tokyo Stock Exchange by at least $44 million, and misusing company funds. Japanese police arrested Greg Kelly as well, the high-ranking Nissan exec said to have assisted Ghosn in the subterfuge. Ghosn and Kelly remain on Nissan's board until a shareholder vote is held to decide those positions. Kelly was Nissan's first American director, and the carmaker's former head of human resources. In France, Renault's board voted to keep Ghosn in his positions, and has requested details from Nissan about the alleged improprieties. The board put Thierry Bollore in the role of deputy CEO with all of Ghosn's powers while Ghosn is "incapacitated," and lead independent director Philippe Lagayette will act as temporary chairman. Nissan has since told Renault that it is investigating financial malfeasance at RNBV, the Amsterdam-based joint-venture company that oversees the alliance. Mitsubishi has watched from afar, only saying it will perform its own investigation, and could remove Ghosn. Tokyo police can hold a suspect for 72 hours for initial questioning without charges. With the deadline looming, Tokyo prosecutors asked the court for, and were granted, a ten-day extension. If they choose, prosecutors can request another ten-day extension. Within 23 days, however, prosecutors either need to charge Ghosn and Kelly, or release them. There are several charges that acquire more details by the day. The most serious accusation is that Ghosn understated his pay from 2011 to 2015 by half, claiming roughly $44 million in remuneration when he actually received around $88 million. Over the weekend, it came out that Japanese prosecutors could be working on new charges of Ghosn under-reporting his salary since 2015 by $27 million. A Japanese newspaper said Ghosn told Kelly in an email to lie on the financial statements.

Renault taking Alpine endurance racing, enters 24 Hours of Le Mans

Renault isn't letting up with the return of its Alpine brand. After announcing a partnership with Caterham to bring a new Alpine to market by 2015 (now expected by 2016), the French firm has announced it is taking Alpine racing again in the European Le Mans Series this year - and that includes The 24 Hours of Le Mans.
It has been 35 years since Alpine last competed in Le Mans, when it won the race outright and dropped the mic as it left the pits, never to return. Before that, in the 11 years it campaigned in the most famous endurance race on the planet from 1963 to 1978, it took seven class wins.
Caterham won't be involved with the race team, however; that will be an effort spearheaded by the Signatech-Nissan team that has been running GT Academy winners in LMS racing. Alpine is preparing an LMP2 chassis that will get a 500-horsepower Nissan engine for this year's championship, with the first two named drivers being Nelson Panciatici (above right) and Pierre Ragues (above left). The third driver for Le Mans will be announced later this month when the racer is launched at the Le Castellet race track in southern France.

2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid

If you've been keeping up with our long-term 2013 Nissan Pathfinder coverage, you already know that, generally speaking, we dig it. After racking up 21,000 miles (and climbing!) on our dear Sweet Brown, we've become very, very familiar with the Pathfinder package as a whole, and many of us actually prefer it over competitors like the Ford Explorer and Chevrolet Traverse.
For 2014, Nissan has added a new hybrid option for its Pathfinder, using an all-new powertrain that will also be shared with the CUV's Infiniti-badged QX60 sibling. As far as fuel economy is concerned, our long-term Pathfinder has had no problem hitting its EPA-estimated numbers of 19 miles per gallon city and 25 mpg highway, but this new hybrid model is said to be good for an increase in overall economy - 25/28 mpg (city/highway) when equipped with front-wheel drive and 25/27 mpg with optional four-wheel drive.
We recently took the 2014 Pathfinder Hybrid for a quick spin around the city streets of Nashville, TN. And while our time with the non-hybrid Pathfinder has been pretty enjoyable overall, at first blush, we're having a tougher time warming up to this electrified variant.