2004 Nissan Quest Sl Mini 7 Passenger Van 4-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Mitsubishi and Renault-Nissan expand partnership, US will get new sedan

Mitsubishi and Renault-Nissan have just inked an alliance that might, hopefully, reverse the ailing fortunes of the Mitsubishi brand in the US market. The big chunk of news is that Mitsubishi will produce two Renualt-based models for sale in the US market, and that they'll be built at the Renault-Samsung factory in Busan, South Korea.
The plans call for a D-segment sedan to be followed by a C-segment offering. Based on the cars built at the Busan factory, that means Mitsubishi will be getting the SM5 and the SM3, a pair of handsome sedans that are based on Renault-Nissan's D and C platforms, respectively. These same platforms underpin a number of US market Nissans (not to mention a number of cars from Renault), namely the Pathfinder, Maxima, Quest and Murano for the D platform and the last-generation Rogue and Sentra for the C platform.
Besides the sedan production, Nissan and Mitsubishi will be expanding their joint-venture company, NMKV, which produces Kei cars for the Japanese market. A new, all-electric offering will be born from the partnership, likely based on a Kei car platform. The partnership between the three brands will also lead to increased sharing of technology, particularly relating to electric cars.

Nissan board meets but doesn't pick a replacement for Ghosn

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Nissan's board met Monday but failed to pick a new chairman to replace Carlos Ghosn, who was arrested last month on charges of violating financial regulations, saying more discussion was needed. Nissan Motor Co. Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa told reporters that the board approved a special committee of outsiders to strengthen governance at the company. A date for the selection of a chairman was not decided. "We plan to be cautious in this process, and I do not plan to rush this," Saikawa said. The recommendations for beefing up governance are due in March, and Saikawa said he was willing to wait until then to choose a chairman. The board meeting came amid an unfolding scandal that threatens the Japanese automaker's two-decade alliance with Renault SA of France and its global brand, and highlights shoddy governance at the manufacturer of the Leaf electric car. Related: Carlos Ghosn coup theory grows: Did Nissan set him up for a fall? Ghosn and another board member Greg Kelly were formally charged last week with falsifying financial reports in underreporting Ghosn's income by about 5 billion yen ($44 million) from 2011 to 2015. They were arrested Nov. 19 by Tokyo prosecutors and remain in detention. A source close to Ghosn's family says Ghosn is innocent, as the alleged income was never decided upon or paid. Aubrey Harwell, the U.S. lawyer for Kelly, an American, says he is innocent, and that Nissan insiders and outside experts had advised him that the financial reporting was proper. The chairman must be selected from among the board members. Three outside board members — race-car driver Keiko Ihara; Masakazu Toyoda, an academic; and Jean-Baptiste Duzan, formerly of Renault — are making that decision. The special committee for governance includes the three outside board members and four other outsiders, including former judge Seiichiro Nishioka. One candidate for chairman is Saikawa, who was hand-picked by Ghosn to succeed him as chief executive. He has denounced Ghosn and Kelly as the "masterminds" in a scheme to falsify income reports and abuse company money and assets. Renault has kept Ghosn as chief executive and chairman, saying its investigation has not found wrongdoing in the awarding of Ghosn's compensation. Saikawa called on directors at Renault to heed its reasons for sacking Ghosn, but Renault's interim chairman Philippe Lagayette said on Friday that its board had not considered a replacement.

2015 Nissan GT-R Nismo is Japanese for "Zero Competition"

It was only a little more than a year ago that we were wondering if there would be a new Nissan GT-R, now here we are writing about the introduction of two of them. Carlos Ghosn himself unveiled the new 2015 Nissan GT-R Nismo and the standard-in-name-only 2015 GT-R on which it is based. The Nismo is all about ape-chested mojo, coming with the tagline "Zero Competition," GT3-derived tweaks without and within and a 'Ring time of 7:08.679.
Nissan also brought the actual 'Ring-running car to the event and you'll notice that it has a different rear wing than the two show cars. We were told that the wing on the time-setting car would be available on the car that goes on sale, Nissan intending to keep its "production car" promise.
You can check out the Nismo above in the new Dark Matte Grey exterior hue and in Brilliant White Pearl, as well as the new GT-R, its new Ivory interior and LED light signature below. We haven't written this in a while, so allow us to bring the challenge back: Porsche - your move...