2004 Mitsubishi Endeavor Ls Sport Utility 4-door 3.8l on 2040-cars

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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.

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV production restarts after five-month delay

Back in March, production of both the Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid and the all-electric i-MiEV ground to a halt over a pair of incidents where overheated lithium-ion batteries caused vehicle fires. Following the rocky start, The Japan Times is reporting that production of the Outlander PHEV has recommenced following the five-month stoppage.
The battery fires were tracked down to a supplier issue before more than 4,300 vehicles were recalled in June, but Mitsubishi received heavy criticism from the Japanese government for the delayed recall. According to the report, though, that hasn't slow down enthusiasm for the plug-in crossover - Mitsubishi has received close to 18,000 for the Outlander PHEV. To keep up with demand, the automaker is planning to double production to 4,000 units a month.

Junkyard Gem: 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse with Lambo Doors

Front-wheel-drive sporty cars with wild body kits and eye-searing graphics became increasingly popular in North America during the 1990s, but it took the enormous mainstream success of the first Fast and Furious movie in 2001 to place bewinged sport compacts with giant tailpipes in every town from Nome to Naples. No doubt due to the narrative-enhancing role of the cop-purchased 2005 Mitsubishi Eclipse and its Robo Car Aero Armor body kit in The Fast and the Furious, the second-generation Eclipse (and its Eagle twin, the Talon) built by Diamond Star Motors in Illinois became the car to have by the middle 2000s… and the only way to improve on a full complement of flares, scoops, and wings was the conversion of the doors to use scissors-style aka Lambo hinge mechanisms. You'd think a car so equipped would be sufficiently desirable to stay on the happy side of the boneyard fence (Those are the doors of a billionaire, after all. -Ed), but such was not the case with this '98 in the Denver area. As we all know, there's no point in going to the expense and trouble of installing Lambo doors in your Eclipse if you haven't got a wing big enough to keep a Mitsubishi F-2 fighter plane aloft. Check! I find these graphics a bit too subdued, but then I'd have chosen a Mitsubishi Debonair AMG for customization in the first place. The body kit looks plenty mean, but hard times appear to have befallen this car quite a few years back. A bit over 150,000 miles show on the odometer, which is non-shabby for a DSM product. The engine is the Chrysler-sourced 2.0 DOHC unit originally designed for use in the Neon, rated at 140 horsepower. A 210-horse turbocharged Mitsubishi 2.0 could be had in the 1998 Eclipse/Talon, but the real gone cats added 14,000 horsepower worth of NOSSS. Someone loved this car enough to put plenty of sweat and dollars into it, and I felt saddened to see it come to such a fate. If it had had an automatic transmission, at least I could have consoled myself that it was built entirely for show. Nope, five-speed manual. The aftermarket wheels look rough, but they may have been sold anyway. This car has been crushed by now, but perhaps the Lambo door hardware got sliced out before then. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. So fast, it destroys wholesome farmhouses. The final model year for this generation of Eclipse was 1999.