2006 Nissan Sentra 4dr Sdn 1.8 S Auto Special Edition 1-owner on 2040-cars

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Carlos Ghosn, the cost cutter who cost a lot in compensation

PARIS — In his 40 years in the auto industry, the praise Carlos Ghosn has won for turning around businesses has regularly been matched by criticism over the amount he has been paid to do it. In the latest furore over his finances, Japan's Nissan Motor Co said on Monday it planned to oust Ghosn as chairman after alleging he had made personal use of company assets, among other acts of suspected misconduct. The scandal comes just five months after the 64-year-old head of the Renault-Nissan alliance narrowly won a shareholder vote at Renault over his 7.4 million euro ($8.5 million) pay package for 2017, after losing a 2016 vote. Brazilian-born, of Lebanese descent and a French citizen, Ghosn began his career in 1978 at tire maker Michelin, before moving to Renault in 1996, where he oversaw a turnaround at the French automaker that won him the nickname "Le Cost Killer." After Renault sealed an alliance with Nissan in 1999, Ghosn used similar methods to revive the ailing Japanese brand, leading to "business superstar" status in Japan, blanket media coverage and even a manga comic book on his life. As auto markets in western Europe and Japan struggled, Ghosn championed a cheap car for the masses in emerging markets and embraced the electric vehicle before many others. He also never made it a secret that he believed there were too many carmakers in the world and consolidation would continue — in 2016 he added Japan's Mitsubishi Motors to the alliance. But in recent months, attention has increasingly turned to how the complex web of cross-shareholdings between the alliance partners might be simplified to ensure it can thrive following the eventual departure of its main architect. In March, sources close to the matter told Reuters the alliance partners were discussing plans for a closer tie-up in which Nissan would acquire the bulk of the French state's 15 percent stake in Renault. With Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reporting on Monday that Ghosn had been arrested by Tokyo prosecutors on suspicion of under-reporting his salary, the alliance's plans for the future just got more pressing.Writing by Mark PotterRelated Video: Earnings/Financials Plants/Manufacturing Nissan Renault

Watch some vintage F1 cars blast up a Japanese mountain road

It's a rare treat to see classic Formula One cars racing anywhere, but watching them on a Japanese mountain road is absolutely sublime. The folks behind Motorhead from Japan took over the toll road's twisting stretch of tarmac to turn this impossible dream into a reality. The unusual opportunity of a closed mountain road would be a waste for only two vehicles, and there were plenty of drivers in amazing machines that wanted to blast up the hill. After the vintage F1 cars got their turn, some drifters in a Nissan GT-R and a Toyota GT86 added some tire smoke to the misty mountain air. A couple more GT-R racecars and some modern sports cars eventually joined them. Before the rain hit, this team had quite a party going on. This video features amazing camera work, but the music unfortunately drowns out the chance to hear these amazing racecars. If watching this leaves you wanting more, Motorhead released a video last year of another group of impressive performance vehicles on the mountain road.

Nissan Leaf resale value expected to take a hit

Nissan Leaf resale values may take a tumble, according to Kelley Blue Book. The vehicle evaluation resource said the 2013 Nissan Leaf will retain around 35 percent of its MSRP after three years; that's down five percent from what KBB gave the 2012 Leaf at the end of 2011. Automotive News reports KBB adjusted the EV's residual value prediction because the used transaction prices for the 2011 model have stuck around 35 percent for the past few months due to relatively cheap gasoline, not to mention the fact that Nissan trimmed the electric's MSRP from $36,050 to $29,650 before the $7,500 tax credit.
Since used buyers are often motivated by more practical buying concerns than early adopters or those wanting to curb their carbon emissions, they may not be willing to pay more for an EV. Meanwhile, early Leaf models are now coming to auction, abandoned by rental car companies after customers shunned them in favor of traditional internal-combustion vehicles. Many of those at auction have less than 10,000 miles and carry an average transaction price of just $13,700.