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Nissan, Mitsubishi confirm plans to invest in Renault EV unit Ampere

PARIS — Renault's longstanding alliance partners Nissan and Mitsubishi confirmed plans to invest in the French car maker's electric vehicle unit Ampere and use it to develop EVs for the European market, the companies said on Wednesday. After years of contentious partnership, the announcement on Wednesday confirms that the new alliance between the three automakers is smaller and more pragmatic, focusing on regional cooperation. Nissan and Mitsubishi confirmed they would invest respectively up to 600 million euros ($647.46 million) and 200 million euros in Ampere, which has been carved out from the rest of Renault and is due for a public listing next year. Nissan will become "a strategic investor" in Ampere, Makoto Uchida, CEO of the Japanese car marker told reporters, adding the company may use the EV unit's software and connectivity innovations in other markets outside Europe. "Developing electric vehicles all over the world alone would be very challenging," he said. Ampere will develop and manufacture an electric version of the compact Nissan Micra for the European market and a medium-sized electric SUV for Mitsubishi. Renault CEO Luca de Meo said Ampere will cut the costs for the Micra for Nissan by 50%. The alliance partners also confirmed their joint projects in Latin America and India. In September, Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi ended their common purchasing agreement, which they said would allow them to focus on individual projects and adapt more quickly to regional differences in automotive markets. At the end of July, Renault and Nissan finalised the terms of a restructured alliance after months of negotiations. Talks dragged on for months longer than expected due in part to Nissan, which was concerned about protecting its intellectual property in future collaborations. Related video: Earnings/Financials Green Mitsubishi Nissan Renault Electric

Takata adds millions to recall expansion in US [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Ford spokesperson Kelli Felker has advised Autoblog that of the 1,509,535 total vehicles worldwide that the company is recalling, 966,504 of them are new additions for this expanded safety campaign. Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that the Takata airbag inflator recalls would expand to an estimated 33.8 million vehicles in the US. However at the time, automakers weren't sure specifically which of their models might be affected under this enlarged campaign. Now, the numbers for BMW, FCA, Ford, and Mitsubishi are being released by the agency. Additionally, Honda is outlining the broadening of its own campaign. BMW's recall amounts to 420,661 vehicles in the US, an increase from 140,696 previously. All of the following models need their front, driver's side airbag replaced: 2002-2005 BMW 325i/325xi/330i/330xi Sedan 2002-2005 BMW 325xi/325i Sportswagon 2002-2006 BMW 330Ci/325Ci/M3 Convertible 2002-2006 BMW 325i/330i/M3 Coupe 2002-2003 BMW M5/540i/525i/530i Sedan 2002-2003 BMW 540i/525i Sportswagon 2003-2004 BMW X5 3.0i/4.4i BMW has received no reports of any injures or deaths from this problem in its vehicles. FCA has 5,224,845 vehicles globally in need of inflator replacements, according to its statement. However, the company is only aware of one injury related to the issue, which occurred in a 2006 Dodge Charger in southern Florida. There are 4,747,202 vehicles worldwide from the company that are affected on the front, driver's side. Among these, 4,066,732 are in the US, 374,508 are in Canada, and the rest are in other countries. The models are: 2005-2009 Dodge Ram 2500 Pickup 2004-2008 Dodge Ram 1500 Pickup 2006-2009 Dodge Ram 3500 Pickup 2007-2009 Dodge Ram 3500 Cab Chassis 2008-2010 Dodge Ram 4500/5500 Cab Chassis 2008-2009 Sterling 4500/5500 Cab Chassis 2004-2008 Dodge Durango 2007-2008 Chrysler Aspen 2005-2010 Chrysler 300/300C/SRT8 2005-2010 Dodge Charger/Magnum 2005-2011 Dodge Dakota 2006-2010 Mitsubishi Raider Also, there are 438,156 vehicles in the US, according to the NHTSA documents, that need their front passenger's side inflators replaced in the expansion of an earlier regional recall: 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 2003 Dodge Ram 3500 The total number of vehicles from Ford now covered under these campaigns stands at 1,509,535 worldwide. Of this total, there are 1,380,604 in the United States, 93,207 in Canada and 16,953 in Mexico.

2013 Nissan Frontier gets substantial price drop, better fuel economy

With the competition dwindling (or dying) among compact trucks, Nissan is looking to make some minor changes to the 2013 Frontier to snag a few extra sales for its aging pickup. Pricing and fuel economy are probably two of the most important vehicle stats among new-car buyers, and the 2013 Nissan Frontier has made vast improvements in both areas over the 2012 model.
First things first: The MSRP of both the King Cab and Crew Cab models have dropped by $1,270 with new starting prices of $17,990 and $22,030 (*not including the $845 destination charge), respectively. The biggest price drop is seen on the SV Crew Cab 4x2, which dropped $1,450 to its new price of $23,990. The important thing here is that the 2013 Frontier King Cab is now priced just a few hundred dollars more than a regular cab version of the Toyota Tacoma. Nissan is also offering a new SV Value Truck Package that includes all the equipment of the previous SV Premium Utility Package (spray-on bedliner, Utili-Track in-bed cargo system with four adjustable cleats and Bluetooth) and adds in a rearview monitor and dual-zone air conditioning.
Another key change made for 2013 was to the Frontier's fuel economy. Except for the base-model truck (King Cab, inline-four, manual transmission, two-wheel drive), all other configurations have seen increases in city and/or highway fuel economy to the tune of one or two miles per gallon; the biggest improvement was to the V6 models with the automatic transmission, which saw an improvement of one mpg city and two mpg highway. Nissan accomplished this with better aerodynamics and updated internal engine components to reduce friction. Aero changes include a seal between the cab and bed, a tailgate spoiler and a new front chin spoiler. For more details on the 2013 Frontier - including a full pricing breakdown - scroll down for the official press release.