2019 Mitsubishi Mirage on 2040-cars

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Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida rules out closer capital ties with Renault

YOKOHAMA — Nissan is committed to its automaking alliance with Renault but will not look to deepen its capital ties with the French automaker any time soon, its new CEO said on Monday. On his first day in the new position, chief executive Makoto Uchida also pledged to repair profitability at Japan's No. 2 automaker and said setting realistic targets would be key toward that goal, as it tries to make a clean break from the leadership of former chairman Carlos Ghosn. "Closer capital ties with Renault are not a focus in the short term," he told reporters. Uchida became CEO of Nissan on Dec. 1, as the car maker tries to recover from a profit slump and draw a line under a year of turmoil after the Ghosn scandal. The ousted chairman is fighting financial misconduct charges in Japan. One of the new CEO's big tasks is to salvage ties with Renault, which have deteriorated since Ghosn's ouster as chairman of both companies. Renault holds a 43.4% stake in Nissan after it saved the Japanese automaker from financial ruin two decades ago, and has pushed for the two companies to merge. In rejecting a notion of a merger with Renault, Uchida, 53, echoes his predecessor Hiroto Saikawa, who stepped down in September. He added that the alliance must re-think how it can serve all of its three members, which also includes Mitsubishi Motors. "The alliance has to benefit each of its partners in terms of revenue and profit," he said. "We need to re-evaluate what has worked and what hasn't worked in the alliance in the past few years." The CEO called for Nissan to set "challenging but achievable" targets, adding that this and the launch of more new car models and vehicle technologies would be key to its financial recovery. Nissan is bracing for its lowest annual profit in 11 years and has slashed its dividend by 65%. Its struggles come at a time when car companies desperately need scale to keep up with sweeping technological changes like electric vehicles and ride-hailing. "Somewhere along the way we created a culture of setting targets which could not be achieved," Uchida said, adding that this had resulted in a focus on short-term results. "Years of this had led Nissan to its current "difficult situation," he said, using heavy vehicle discounting in the U.S. market as an example of how aggressive sales targets to grow market share had deteriorated the company's brand.

Renault board names Ghosn stand-ins, as tensions with Nissan increase

PARIS/TOKYO — French carmaker Renault tapped its chief operating officer and a senior board member to fill in for embattled boss Carlos Ghosn, after an investigation by alliance partner Nissan led to his arrest on suspicion of financial misconduct. Thierry Bollore, Ghosn's operational second-in-command, will become deputy chief executive, while lead independent director Philippe Lagayette assumes the function of interim chairman, Renault said after a board meeting late on Tuesday. But the board refrained from firing Ghosn while awaiting more detail on the allegations — in a decision that could also buy more time for an accelerated, permanent succession process. "Mr. Ghosn, temporarily incapacitated, remains Chairman and Chief Executive Officer," Renault said in a statement. "During this period, the board will meet on a regular basis under the chairmanship of the lead independent director." Ghosn, one of the car industry's best-known leaders, was arrested on Monday after Nissan said he had engaged in years of wrongdoing, including personal use of company money and under-reported earnings. The Japanese company plans to remove him as chairman on Thursday. The French government, Renault's biggest shareholder, had begun to distance itself from Ghosn, calling for new interim leadership before the meeting, as the Japanese investigation expanded to include Renault-Nissan alliance finances. "Carlos Ghosn is no longer in a position where he is capable of leading Renault," Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said earlier in the day. "Renault has been weakened, which makes it all the more necessary to act quickly." Statements by Le Maire, Renault and its board all echoed French preoccupations over the future of the alliance first articulated by President Emmanuel Macron within hours of Ghosn's arrest on Monday. Following talks between Le Maire and his Japanese counterpart Hiroshige Seko on Tuesday, the ministers reaffirmed their "shared wish to maintain this winning cooperation." But in a sign that Nissan may now seek to loosen its French parent's hold on the partnership, the Japanese company informed Renault it also had evidence of potential wrongdoing at Renault-Nissan BV, the Dutch venture overseeing alliance operations under Renault's ultimate control, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Junkyard Gem: 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart Sedan

Ever since I pined for a new Starion while I was driving a beige Toyota sedan in high school, I've had a great affection for sporty Mitsubishis. That means that I keep my eyes open for such cars while making my appointed junkyard rounds, especially the more obscure machines. Cordia Turbos, Tredia Turbos, Colt Turbos, Conquests, and — of course — interesting variations on the Lancer theme (no, not this kind of Lancer, nor this kind) make up my Mitsubishi junkyard-photography shopping list. Just recently, I spotted this 2005 Lancer Ralliart in a Denver yard, right next to a clean 2006 MINI Cooper S. The O-Z Rally Edition Lancers sold very well in Colorado, and so I find plenty of them (nearly all missing their original O-Z wheels) in the car graveyards in these parts. Most of the O-Z Lancers came in bright yellow paint. When I spotted a discarded yellow Lancer with special decklid badging, I thought I had run across yet another cool-looking-but-slow, appearance-package Lancer. A closer look (and a VIN check, because car owners "upgrade" with badge swaps all the time) revealed the truth: not a dime-a-dozen O-Z Rally but a genuine, numbers-matching Ralliart! As a matter of fact, I do find Lancer Evolutions (and Subaru WRXs) in Colorado U-Wrench-type yards, but they're always so thoroughly crashed and/or gutted that I don't bother photographing them. The 2005 Ralliart was no Evo, of course, but it came with a 162-horsepower 4G69 2.4-liter straight-four instead of the regular Lancer's 120-horse 4G94. Throw in the Ralliart's four-wheel-disc brakes plus its suspension upgrades, add the front seats out of the Japan-market Evolution GTA, and you had a reasonably quick car for just $18,499 (about $25,000 in 2019 dollars). That was a pretty good deal, at a time when the Dodge Neon SRT-4 cost $20,700, the Chevy Cobalt SS started at $21,995, the Volkswagen 1.8T GTI went for $19,510, and the Honda Civic Si cost $19,220 (though all but the Civic Si boasted more power than the Lancer Ralliart). A five-speed manual came as standard equipment on the Ralliart, though I fear many (probably most) American buyers chose the optional slushbox. This car has the five-speed. In theory, the powertrain from this car ought to be a not-too-difficult swap into any number of cheap-as-dirt 1980s Dodge/Plymouth Colts, and I hope some Colt-owning junkyard shopper grabs the guts from this car for that purpose.