To Hot! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Nissan files civil suit against Ghosn, seeking $91 million in damages

TOKYO — Nissan filed a civil suit Wednesday seeking 10 billion yen ($91 million) in damages from the Japanese automaker's former Chairman Carlos Ghosn. Nissan filed the case in Yokohama District Court to recoup some of the monetary damages suffered, it said, “as a result of years of misconduct and fraudulent activity" by Ghosn. The claim was calculated by adding the costs from what Nissan called Ghosn's “corrupt practices,” such as rent for overseas property, use of corporate jets and payments to Ghosn's sister, as well as costs for the internal investigation into Ghosn's alleged wrongdoings. Representatives of Ghosn said in a statement they couldn't comment as they had yet to see the legal documents. “Nissan's maneuvers continue,” they said, while noting Nissan had claimed larger damages before. Ghosn, who led Nissan for two decades and saved it from near-bankruptcy, was arrested in Japan in November 2018, and charged with underreporting his future compensation and breach of trust in diverting Nissan money for personal gain. He was awaiting trial but skipped bail and showed up in Lebanon late last year. Japan has no extradition treaty with Lebanon, and he's unlikely to be arrested. A date had not been set for his trial, and Ghosn has said he was worried his ordeal would never end and he would not get a fair hearing. The bail conditions also barred him from seeing his wife. He has repeatedly lashed out at Japan's judicial system, where the conviction rate is higher than 99%. Japanese authorities recently issued an arrest warrant for Ghosn and three Americans, accused of helping his escape. Separately, they issued an arrest warrant for Ghosn's wife on suspicion of perjury. Ghosn has repeatedly said he is innocent, saying that the promised compensation had never been decided, and all the payments were for legitimate services. Wednesday's lawsuit by Nissan comes on top of the civil case Nissan filed against Ghosn in the British Virgin Islands in August last year. It alleged unauthorized payments, sought to regain a luxury yacht and pursued other damages, according to Nissan. Yokohama-based Nissan, which makes the Z sportscar, Leaf electric car and Infiniti luxury models, is also facing trial in Japan as a company in relation to Ghosn's scandal. It has indicated it will agree to any penalties. Nissan's reputation has been sorely tarnished over the Ghosn fiasco, and its sales have dropped. Nissan reports financial results Thursday.

Junkyard Gem: 1986 Mitsubishi Cordia L

New Mitsubishi cars first showed up in the United States with Dodge Colt badging in the 1971 model year, and a broad range of Dodge- and Plymouth-badged Mitsubishis followed them across the Pacific in subsequent years. For the 1983 model year, cars bearing Mitsubishi badges finally appeared here, and there were four models available to start with: the Starion, Mighty Max, Tredia and Cordia. The sporty Starion and the sibling-to-the-Ram-50 Mighty Max pickup remain well-known to this day, but the Tredia and its Cordia platform-mate have all but disappeared from streets, junkyards and — for most of us — memories. I thought I'd never see another discarded Cordia again after spotting a first-year example nearly a decade ago, but then this '86 showed up in a San Francisco Bay Area self-service car graveyard recently. The Cordia and Tredia were the same car, mechanically speaking. The Tredia was a subcompact sedan priced to compete with the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic, while the Cordia was a slick-looking liftback coupe that sought to lure potential buyers away from the likes of the Datsun 200SX, Toyota Celica and Isuzu Impulse. Both the Cordia and Tredia sold very well in Australia and New Zealand, but North Americans mostly ignored the Cordia and laughed at the Tredia. The last model year for both models in America was 1988. The Cordia was a cousin to the Galant and had the same front-wheel-drive layout. In 1986, Cordia engine choices were a naturally-aspirated 2.0-liter 4G63 straight-four rated at 88 horsepower and 108 pound feet and a turbocharged 1.8-liter 4G62T straight-four with 116 horsepower and 129 pound-feet. This car has the 2.0. A five-speed manual transmission was base Cordia equipment, but the original purchaser of this car opted for the 380-buck automatic (that's 1,067 of today's bucks). The emissions sticker tells us that this is a California-market car rather than a "49-state" version. Surprisingly for a car like this in the middle 1980s, an AM/FM stereo radio was base equipment. That worked out well for those who enjoyed the great music of the era. However, if you wanted to play cassettes you had to pay extra. This setup with separate cassette deck was fairly common during the decade; the cost for the 1986 Cordia was $133 (about $374 in 2023 dollars). The paint is faded but the interior doesn't look terribly thrashed.

2016 Mitsubishi Outlander First Drive

"There is a golden hour between life and death. If you are critically injured you have less than 60 minutes to survive. You might not die right then; it may be three days or two weeks later – but something has happened in your body that is irreparable." That quote is from Dr. R. Adams Cowley, widely viewed as the father of modern-day trauma medicine. It's an apt description of the straits Mitsubishi finds itself in here in the United States. The company's golden hour has been a long time coming, but with the death of the Lancer Evolution, and a stable that consists of the ancient Lancer, the lamentable Outlander Sport and the abhorrent Mirage, the 2016 Outlander marks the start of this vital 60 minutes. It was with this in mind that we shipped out to San Francisco to test the company's latest compact CUV. Technically a facelifted version of the crossover that debuted at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show, Mitsubishi made over 100 changes as part of this refresh. The exterior changes strip away some of the Outlander's boring, conservative elements in favor of a new design language called "Dynamic Shield." Most of the work is from the A-pillars forward, where an assertive chrome-lined grille, restyled headlights, and a new hood are found. Larger LED taillights sit in back, along with chrome elements. As is the fashion nowadays, LED running lights have been added as standard, while the GT gets LED low beams and halogen high beams, as well. The cabin receives similarly small upgrades, updated materials, and a new navigation system. Plastic is the dominant surface, although it's no better or worse than the stuff usually encountered in this segment. Mitsubishi added piano-black accents on the bottom half of the leather-wrapped steering wheel and around the touchscreen navigation system, to class up the cabin. The cloth seats on the entry level models have also been updated, although the leather on the mid-range SEL and top-of-the-line GT we drove is unimpressive. The same can be said of the seats themselves, which are wide and unsupportive, particularly if you suffer from lower back issues, as your author does. You'll get eight-way powered adjustments on the SEL and GT, although lesser trims get by with manually-operated, six-way adjustability. Neither of those setups include lumbar adjustments. The steering wheel tilts and telescopes, at least, regardless of trim level. A standard third-row of seats has long been one of the Outlander's strongest points.