1999 Mitsubishi 3000gt Sl Coupe 2-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

French investigators will question Carlos Ghosn in Lebanon

BEIRUT — A team of French investigators will come to Beirut next month to participate in interrogating former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, a Lebanese justice ministry official said Saturday. The official gave no specific date or details of what information the investigators would seek from Ghosn. Former auto executive Ghosn, who is a Lebanese, Brazilian and French national, fled Japan in a dramatic escape that drew headlines last year, arriving in Lebanon on Dec. 30, 2019. In addition to his trial in Japan, the 66-year-old businessman is facing a number of legal challenges in France, including tax evasion and alleged money laundering, fraud and misuse of company assets while at the helm of the Renault-Nissan alliance. The Lebanese official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the French investigators would be working alongside their Lebanese counterparts. Information about investigations is secret under French law, and French judicial officials did not respond to requests for comment Saturday on the report. After leading the Japanese automaker Nissan for two decades, Ghosn was arrested in Japan in November 2018 on charges of breach of trust, misusing company assets for personal gains and violating securities laws by not fully disclosing his compensation. He denied wrongdoing and fled Japan while out on bail awaiting trial. He is unlikely to be extradited from Lebanon, where he has been since last year. At least two Ghosn-related investigations were opened in France. One focused on suspicious transactions between Renault and a distributor in Oman, as well as suspected payments for private trips and events paid by Renault-NissanÂ’s Netherlands-based holding company RNBV. Another investigation focused on suspected misuse of company funds for a party for Ghosn at Versailles. The French inquiry aims to determine who is at fault for a string of alleged financial violations between 2009 and 2020. That includes “suspicious financial flows” between Renault and the SBA car dealership in Oman. This aspect of the inquiry is targeting several million euros of travel and other costs paid by the Netherlands-based Renault-Nissan holding RNBV but suspected to have been for GhosnÂ’s personal use. GhosnÂ’s French lawyers have said the payments to SBA were “justified bonuses” for having boosted car sales in the Persian Gulf and denied allegations that the funds benefited Ghosn or his family personally.

Nissan reportedly rejecting Renault proposal for closer ties

TOKYO — Nissan Motor Co Ltd will reject a management integration proposal from French partner Renault SA and will call for an equal capital relationship, the Nikkei newspaper said on Monday, citing sources. Nissan's management feels the Japanese company has not been treated as an equal of Renault under existing capital ties, and a merger would make this inequality permanent, the Nikkei reported. The outlook for the alliance — one of the world's top automaking partnerships — has been in focus since the arrest in November of its main architect, Carlos Ghosn, on charges of financial misconduct. The former Nissan and Renault chairman has denied the charges against him and has said he was the victim of a boardroom coup by Nissan executives opposed to closer ties. To which, Bloomberg reported that it has seen emails in which Nissan executives were working with Japanese government officials to defend the company's independence, as Ghosn was pushing for a full merger. The emails indicate growing concern at high levels of the Japanese government, in the months before Ghosn's arrest, that his merger efforts would boost Renault and its largest shareholder, the French government, and harm Nissan, in a relationship the Japanese already saw as lopsided. The emails indicated a desire to keep the existing structure of the alliance with a "re-balancing of the shareholding" to reduce Renault's 43 percent stake in Nissan, and stated that Nissan's independence "should be respected." Nissan declined to comment directly on the emails, while reiterating that misconduct by Ghosn and his former aide, Greg Kelly, is "the sole cause of the chain of events." Renault saved Nissan from the brink of bankruptcy two decades ago and under their current capital alliance, the French company holds greater control over its much larger partner. Nissan Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa declined to say whether the company had received a merger proposal from Renault. "Now is not the time to think of such things," he told a group of reporters outside of his house in Tokyo. "At the moment we are focused on improving Nissan's earnings performance. Please give us time to do that." Renault declined to comment on the report. Renault has argued in its proposal that an integration would maximize synergies within the French-Japanese alliance, according to the Nikkei. The Financial Times reported last month of Renault's intention to restart merger talks with Nissan within 12 months.

2021 Mitsubishi Mirage and Mirage G4 updated with fresh faces, more tech

Mitsubishi previously teased an update for the Mirage and Mirage G4 for the 2021 model year, and now the new car is here. It amounts to a light refresh, with some minor appearance changes, new tech and a single special edition model. The same 1.2-liter three-cylinder is still under the hood, cranking out 78 horsepower and 74 pound-feet of torque. Brutally slow, but when paired with the CVT, it’s capable of 36 mpg city, 43 mpg highway and 39 mpg combined. The five-speed manual transmission is still available, but only on the base ES trim. On the design front, the Mirage (hatchback) and Mirage G4 (sedan) get a new grille and front bumper that are meant to be sportier than before. ItÂ’s highly reminiscent of the brandÂ’s crossovers with its upright, shield-like look, and that was intentional, Mitsubishi says. A new rear bumper and lower valance add width to the rear to give it the appearance of being larger than it is. New LED taillights are used on all Mirages, and redesigned LED headlights with LED running lights are available on the top trim. This design treatment does inject some fresh life into the two Mirages, but itÂ’s nowhere close to the full redesign that the Mirage is due for, having been in the same generation since the 2014 model year in the U.S. The interior gains new (supposedly improved) front armrests, more soft-touch cloth in frequently touched areas, and a “carbon fiber effect” on the window switches. On the tech front, Mitsubishi makes the seven-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto standard equipment. Also standard is forward collision mitigation with pedestrian detection. The top trim level gives you access to lane departure warning and auto high beams as optional equipment. That amounts to more safety features than before, but itÂ’s still a paltry selection compared to most new cars today. As for the special edition Mirage, Mitsubishi calls it the “Carbonite Edition.” Star Wars fans need not apply, though, as there is nothing about it that resembles true carbonite. Instead, it adds “a revised front grille and air dam, side air dam, B-pillar decal and rear air dam with carbon-pattern surfaces and contrasting red accents.” ItÂ’s pairable with six different colors and slots in below the top SE trim but above the mid-grade LE in price. The photos depict the two new colors available for 2021: White Diamond and Sand Yellow. The new going rate for a base Mirage is $15,390, which is $400 more than it was for 2020.