2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse Gs on 2040-cars

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Carlos Ghosn changes to hotshot attorney and a new defense strategy

TOKYO — Carlos Ghosn's chief defense attorney Motonari Otsuru resigned and was replaced by a team that includes hotshot lawyer Junichiro Hironaka, in a change of strategy from the ousted Nissan Motor chairman three months after his arrest. Ghosn, Nissan's one-time savior, has been held in detention since his Nov. 19 arrest. He's been indicted and accused of under-reporting his salary and breach of trust. He has denied the charges. The once-feted auto executive hired Hiroshi Kawatsu as head of a new defense team, his office said on Wednesday. Hironaka, 73, has won several high profile cases, helping acquit senior lawmaker Ichiro Ozawa and senior bureaucrat Atsuko Muraki. Hiring Hironaka would mean a more aggressive legal strategy, said Nobuo Gohara, a former prosecutor. Otsuru previously led the special prosecutors' office that is now handling Ghosn's case. "Otsuru was miscast. He worked at the heart of the special prosecutors office so he was not someone who was going to go after them aggressively," Gohara said. "Hironaka is an experienced defense lawyer who has won a number of cases. He will mount a more thorough and aggressive defense." Otsuru's office confirmed his resignation in a statement, but gave no reason for the move. A second member of Ghosn's defense team, Masato Oshikubo, had quit, it said. Go Kondo, Ghosn's third defense lawyer, was unavailable for comment. Ghosn released a short statement thanking Otsuru for his team's "tireless and diligent work," and called him a "very capable and intelligent man and lawyer." The sudden change in attorneys comes ahead of the expected start of informal meetings with prosecutors and judges to discuss pretrial preparations, an indication that there will be no new charges against Ghosn. "As we begin the trial phase, I have decided to engage Hironaka-sensei as my legal counsel," Ghosn said, using an honorific suffix. "I look forward to defending myself vigorously, and this represents the beginning of the process of not only establishing my innocence but also shedding light on the circumstances that led to my unjust detention." Ghosn, 64, told the Nikkei newspaper last month that Nissan executives opposed to his plans for closer ties with automaking partner Renault SA had plotted to remove him. Ghosn was widely credited with rescuing Nissan from near-bankruptcy after he was brought over to Japan in 1999 by Renault after the French automaker bought a chunk of Nissan.

Fiat taps Mitsubishi for European pickup

Mitsubishi is often derided in the US for its relatively boring lineup, Lancer Evolution aside, but the company is on the upswing worldwide, recently posting record global operating profits. The Japanese automaker may get a further boost in the near future from a rumored pickup truck deal with Fiat.
According to insider sources speaking to Automotive News Europe, Mitsubishi would reportedly build a variant of its widely respected L200 pickup truck for the Fiat Professional brand in Europe and Latin America starting in 2016. The L200 is larger than the Fiat Strada front-wheel-drive pickup already available in those markets, and it's available in rear- and four-wheel-drive configurations. The idea of adding a midsize truck to the commercial lineup was in the Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles five-year plan, but it didn't include any mention of a partnership to build it.
At first blush, the Mitsubishi agreement seems like an odd move, given that Fiat already owns pickup truck specialists Ram. However, according to ANE, the company had at one time planned to use a version of a new Dodge Dakota pickup for duty in Europe and Latin America, but the model never came to fruition.

Junkyard Gem: 1989 Mitsubishi Galant Sedan

The history of the Mitsubishi Galant in North America goes all the way back to the 1971 model year, when Chrysler imported the first-generation Galant and badged it as the Dodge Colt. Later in the 1970s, we got Galant coupes badged as Dodge Challengers and Plymouth Sapporos, and Mitsubishi began selling Galants (now with front-wheel-drive) with the company's own badging starting in the 1985 model year. The sixth-generation Galant arrived here for the 1989 model year, as a stylish and technology-packed competitor to the Taurus, Camry, and Accord, and it made a fair-sized splash in the automotive world. You'd have a tough time finding one of these cars today, but this '89 appeared in a self-service yard in Phoenix a couple of months back and I was there to document it. 159,385 miles is a respectable total for a 1980s car, and this one looks clean enough to indicate that it had conscientious owners for most of its 31-year life. Check out the dual analog trip counters, the sort of cool little feature Mitsubishi did so well during this era. One of this car's owners (probably its final owner) applied glue-on bling to many locations inside the car. A fairly typical Japanese sedan interior for the late 1980s and early 1990s, though a bit flashier than what Toyota and Honda were doing at the time. The base Galant sedan listed at $10,971 in 1989, versus $12,400 for a Ford Taurus L sedan, $12,105 for a base Chevrolet Celebrity sedan, $11,488 for a base Toyota Camry sedan, and $11,770 for a Honda Accord DX sedan. That was a good price for a competent and fuel-efficient sedan with a modicum of sportiness. Power came from a 2.0-liter 4G63 Sirius four-cylinder rated at 102 horsepower. This engine went into a list of vehicles longer than a Mitsubishi HIIB rocket, everything from the Eclipse to the Great Wall Coolbear, and you can buy a brand-new BAW BJ2022 Brave Warrior with 4G63 power to this day. Protected by the Nassau County PBA and Radio Shack. This car must have begun its career in New York, then moved to Arizona. Some Americans still bought midsize sedans with manual transmissions during this era, but their numbers were in steep decline (Ford stopped selling three-pedal Tauruses, other than the SHO after 1988). This car has an automatic, though I have found a bullet-riddled '91 Galant with a 5-speed during my junkyard travels. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.