2004 Nissan 350z Enthusiast on 2040-cars

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2013 Nissan Pathfinder: January 2013

We've now had our long-term 2013 Nissan Pathfinder for about a month, and some impressions are starting to solidify, while others remain contentious among the team. Most notable among those contentious items is our Pathfinder's paint color, which was chosen by vote among the Autoblog team.
Dubbed Mocha Stone, it beat out Cayenne Red by a single vote. I was a Mocha Stone supporter and like it even more in person than on Nissan's configurator. It's a mature choice that can be comfortably placed in the grouping of silver, white and gray tones buyers routinely choose most often over all the colors of the rainbow offered on cars these days for the sake of attention. Staunch opponents of Mocha Stone on the team remain unswayed. Democracy is a difficult process, people.

Feds say Americans' bid to avoid extradition in Ghosn escape is 'flawed'

BOSTON — U.S. prosecutors on Tuesday said a former Green Beret and his son, wanted by Japan for helping former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn flee the country, were advancing a "flawed" interpretation of Japanese law to fight their extradition. Michael Taylor and his son, Peter Taylor, were arrested in Massachusetts last month at Japan's request for allegedly smuggling Ghosn out of the country on Dec. 29, 2019, in a box while he was out on bail awaiting trial on financial charges. Ghosn fled to Lebanon, his childhood home, after being charged with engaging in financial wrongdoing, including by understating his compensation in Nissan's financial statements. He denies wrongdoing. Lawyers for the Taylors in a motion last week asked a federal judge in Boston to quash the provisional warrants issued in May for their arrests, arguing that "bail jumping" is not a crime in Japan. Defense lawyers argued that helping someone jump bail was also not a crime. While Japan issued arrest warrants for the Taylors in January, the lawyers said the crime stated in the warrants is an immigration offense and a non-extraditable misdemeanor. But U.S. prosecutors in a brief filed on Tuesday said it would be "unprecedented" for the extradition case at this junction to be tossed based on a "flawed interpretation of Japanese law and a mischaracterization of the facts." While Japan has not yet formally sought their extradition, the country has confirmed that Taylors' conduct constitutes a felony, U.S. prosecutors said. "The purported loophole through which the Taylors seek to evade justice simply does not exist," U.S. prosecutors wrote. Prosecutors added that neither Taylor, including Michael, a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran and private security specialist, should be released from jail as they are flight risks. Abbe Lowell, the Taylors' lawyer, said he was reviewing the filing. Related Video: Government/Legal Mitsubishi Nissan Renault Carlos Ghosn

Trucks, SUVs drive U.S. October new vehicle sales

DETROIT — Major automakers posted mixed U.S. new vehicle sales in October on Wednesday, though America's love affair with high-margin pickup trucks and SUVs remained in full bloom as larger, pricier vehicles fared better than passenger cars. Auto industry publication WardsAuto put the seasonally-adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) for light vehicle sales in October at a robust level of 18 million units. But after a long boom cycle, carmakers are still ill-prepared for the slight decline in sales anticipated for full-year 2017 and have taken too few steps to trim production, said Doug Mehl, a partner in consultancy A.T. Kearney's automotive practice. "When you make a new vehicle, you have volume assumptions tagged to it, and who wants to be the guy who says, 'I'm going to make less of this really cool model'?" Mehl said. "But eventually the market is the reality, and it's going to force companies one way or other here." General Motors GM reported a sales drop of 2.2 percent for the month, with consumer sales down 6.6 percent. But sales of high-margin pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and crossovers all rose. GM also cut its inventory of unsold vehicles — a source of concern for the market — slightly. The automaker has worked to reduce its volume of excess inventory, including through significant production shutdowns in the third quarter. GM had said its inventory would rise in October. "We are heading into the fourth quarter with good momentum, thanks to a strong U.S. economy and very strong pickup and crossover sales," said Kurt McNeil, GM vice president for U.S. sales operations. GM slightly reduced consumer discounts as a percentage of average transaction prices to 13.5 percent, from 13.7 percent in the third quarter. Industry experts believe consumer discounts above 10 percent of the average transaction price are unhealthy as they erode resale values and are unsustainable in the long term. Consultants J.D. Power and LMC said last week that based on preliminary October sales numbers, discounts have exceeded 10 percent in 15 of the past 16 months. Ford The U.S. auto industry posted record sales of 17.55 million vehicles in 2016. New sales received a strong boost in September as consumers replaced vehicles damaged in southeast Texas by Hurricane Harvey the previous month. Full-year 2017 sales are expected to be slightly lower than 2016.