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Nissan posts $6.2 billion annual loss and unveils plan to cut costs

TOKYO — Nissan outlined a new plan on Thursday to become a smaller, more cost-efficient carmaker after the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated a slide in profitability that culminated in its first annual loss in 11 years. Under a new four-year plan, the Japanese manufacturer will slash its production capacity and model range by about a fifth to help cut 300 billion yen from fixed costs. It will shut plants in Spain and Indonesia, leave the South Korean market and pull its Datsun brand from Russia as part of a strategy unveiled on Wednesday to share production globally with its partners Renault and Mitsubishi. "I will make every effort to return Nissan to a growth path," Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida said, adding that the company had learned from its past mistakes of chasing global market share at all costs. "We must admit failures and take corrective actions," he said, adding that starting with top-level managers, the company had to break its inward-looking culture which in the past has stymied efforts to deepen cooperation with France's Renault. Uchida said improving the company's cash flow was its biggest challenge. He reiterated that Nissan's cash liquidity was good even though it had negative free cash flow of 641 billion yen in the year ended in March. Nissan declined to give any forecasts for its current financial year which started in April due to the uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic. It also declined to give details on how many jobs it was cutting. In what is Nissan's second recovery plan in less than a year, Uchida pledged a return to profitability with a core operating profit margin above 5% and a sustainable global market share of 6%. Nissan posted an annual operating loss of 40.5 billion yen for the year to March 31, its worst performance since 2008/09. Its operating profit margin was -0.4%. The automaker said on Thursday that it sold 4.9 million vehicles last year, up from an earlier estimate of 4.8 million. That was still the second decline in a row and a fall of 11% from the previous period but meant Nissan clung on to its position as Japan's second biggest carmaker, just ahead of Honda and a long way behind Toyota. Pandemic pressure Even before the spread of the novel coronavirus, Nissan's slumping profits had forced it to row back on an aggressive expansion plan pursued by ousted leader Carlos Ghosn. The pandemic has only piled on the urgency to downsize.

Renault to alert prosecutors about Carlos Ghosn's wedding costs

PARIS — Renault has found evidence that it paid part of Carlos Ghosn's wedding costs and is preparing to turn the investigation over to prosecutors, two weeks after the French carmaker's scandal-hit chairman and chief executive was forced out. An internal probe established that a 2016 sponsorship deal with the Chateau de Versailles included a 50,000 euro ($57,000) personal benefit to Ghosn, the carmaker said on Thursday, confirming a report in Le Figaro. The carmaker replaced Ghosn on Jan. 24, more than two months after his arrest in Japan over allegations of financial misconduct uncovered by Renault's Japanese affiliate Nissan, which he also chaired. Renault began its own examination of payments to Ghosn within days of his detention but had not flagged any irregularities until now. Renault has discovered that "Mr Ghosn was accorded a personal benefit valued at 50,000 euros under the terms of a sponsorship contract with the Chateau de Versailles," the company said in a statement on Thursday. "Renault has decided to bring these findings to the attention of the judicial authorities." The office of Ghosn's Japanese lawyer Motonari Otsuru did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ghosn remains in detention in Tokyo with limited opportunity to respond publicly to allegations against him. Renault had agreed before the wedding to sponsor 2.3 million euros of Versailles renovations in return for a credit granting the carmaker services from the chateau worth 25 percent of that amount, or 575,000 euros, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Le Figaro reported that the chateau allowed Ghosn to host his wedding reception on its grounds in exchange for Renault's donations to the Versailles estate, resplendent home to France's last kings. The rental fee was deducted from Renault's credit for use of the Grand Trianon at Versailles on Oct. 8, 2016, when Ghosn and his second wife Carole hosted their wedding reception at the 17th-century palace, the source said. The event had already attracted public attention for its opulence and Marie Antoinette-themed costumes. The Renault board was informed about the discovery on Wednesday, as reported by Le Figaro, the source added. Earnings/Financials Government/Legal Mitsubishi Nissan Renault renault-nissan

Best gas mileage cars

If you're looking for the cars with the best gas mileage, your best bets are hybrids and EVs, and with the latter, then it's a case of energy efficiency considering the lack of gasoline. But maybe you don't like the idea of an electrified vehicle. Maybe you're concerned about more complicated powertrains or new technologies. Maybe you're put off by the extra up-front cost of those vehicles. So what's the best way to get good fuel economy, without batteries? Well, we've pulled together the 10 most fuel-efficient cars that only run on gasoline. Best Gas Mileage Cars for 2024: 2021 Mitsubishi Mirage and Mirage G4 View 27 Photos Mitsubishi Mirage: 39 mpg combined When you can't be electrified, you need to achieve high efficiency with other strategies. In the case of the Mitsubishi Mirage, those come from low weight (just 2,084 pounds) and low power (just 78 horsepower). That's how the Mirage manages to top the list at 39 mpg combined. In the city it gets 36 mpg, and on the highway it manages 43, both of which are tops in this list, too. That just applies to the hatchback, though. The sedan would technically be second on the list with 37 mpg combined, but we're generally lumping together body styles. The other big draw of the Mirage is that it's incredibly cheap and has a long warranty. The base hatchback starts at $18,110 with destination, making it one of the cheapest cars on the road. And it has a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty. So if you're looking for maximum frugality above literally all else, it's hard to top the Mirage. Honda Civic: 36 mpg combined While the Mirage wins technically, it makes many compromises to achieve its price and fuel economy. The rest of the list provides far better balancing of economy with being quality modern automobiles. And coming in second is the Honda Civic sedan (pictured at the top of this article) in EX trim with the turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder and CVT. This variant manages 33 mpg in the city, 42 on the highway and 36 combined. Going to the Touring trim drops fuel economy to 34 combined, and the 2.0-liter non-turbo engine gets between 33 and 35. The most efficient hatchback gets 35 mpg combined. The hatch is even available with a manual transmission, but it's also the least efficient (31 mpg). Then there's the Si and Type R, but with much more power and handling upgrades, they're basically different models. Regardless, almost every version of the Civic is quite frugal.