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Renault-Nissan alliance reboot will kick off with five projects

Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. are moving ahead with a plan to recalibrate a two-decades-old alliance that had weakened over time, starting with a range of industrial projects alongside an agreement to rebalance capital ties, according to people familiar with the situation. Top executives from the alliance partners held an operating board meeting on Thursday, giving a nod to bringing Nissan and Renault’s cross shareholdings to an equal level, as well as common projects as part of the reshaped cooperation, the people said. The partners also agreed on an alliance event to be held on Feb. 6 in London to present details of the plans, the people added, declining to be named discussing details before they are public. Under the landmark plan, Renault is expected to cut its 43% stake in Nissan to 15% via an orderly disposal of shares over time to eliminate lopsided capital ties that have been a source of friction for years. The tentative agreement comes after years of tension that at one point spilled over into Japanese-French politics when Renault-NissanÂ’s then-leader Carlos Ghosn weighed to merge the two companies.   The partners also agreed to continue collaborating on various industrial projects, a condition that was crucial for Renault to obtain approval for the rebalancing from its most powerful shareholder, the French government. Media representatives for Renault and Nissan declined to comment. The boards of directors of the respective companies will have to approve the agreement in meetings to be held in coming days, the people said.  Code name: ‘ReloadedÂ’ The redesigned alliance will allow Chief Executive Officer Luca de Meo to move on with a complex split of Renault into five separate businesses, including carved-out electric-vehicle business Ampere and to deepen ties with a series of other partners, including ChinaÂ’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Co. and Qualcomm Inc., the people said. “The interest for each of the partners is now to be able to move forward without, for example, RenaultÂ’s management getting distracted in endless trans-national politics,” says Stifel analyst Pierre-Yves Quemener. Failure of the talks would have been “a negative,” Quemener said.  Renault, Nissan and junior partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will embark on roughly five projects initially, codenamed “Reloaded,” with others to follow, the people said.

Consumer Reports no longer recommends Honda Civic

Consumer Reports annual Car Reliability Survey is out, and yes, there are some big surprises. First and foremost? The venerable publication no longer recommends the Honda Civic. In fact, aside from the walking-dead CR-Z and limited-release Clarity fuel-cell car, the Civic is the only Honda to miss out on CR's prestigious nod. At the opposite end there's a surprise as well – Toyota and Lexus remain the most reliable brands on the market, but Buick cracked the top three. That's up from seventh last year, and the first time for an American brand to stand on the Consumer Reports podium. Mazda's entire lineup earned Recommended checks as well. Consumer Reports dinged the Civic for its "infuriating" touch-screen radio, lack of driver lumbar adjustability, the limited selection of cars on dealer lots fitted with Honda's popular Sensing system, and the company's decision to offer LaneWatch instead of a full-tilt blind-spot monitoring system. Its score? A lowly 58. The Civic isn't the only surprise drop from CR's Recommended ranks. The Audi A3, Ford F-150, Subaru WRX/STI, and Volkswagen Jetta, GTI, and Passat all lost the Consumer Reports' checkmark. On the flipside, a number of popular vehicles graduated to the Recommended ranks, including the BMW X5, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, and Cruze, Hyundai Santa Fe, Porsche Macan, and Tesla Model S. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the hilariously recall-prone Ford Escape getting a Recommended check – considering the popularity of Ford's small crossover, this is likely a coup for the brand, as it puts the Escape on a level playing field with the Recommended Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue. While Ford is probably happy to see CR promote the Escape, the list wasn't as kind for every brand. For example, of the entire Fiat Chrysler Automobiles catalog, the ancient Chrysler 300 was the only car to score a check – there wasn't a single Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, or Ram on the list. That hurts. FCA isn't alone at the low end, either. GMC, Jaguar Land Rover, Mini, and Mitsubishi don't have a vehicle on CR's list between them, while brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Cadillac only have a few models each. You can check out Consumer Reports entire reliability roundup, even without a subscription, here.

Nissan paint prank involves 'world's cleanest' Leaf

If you want attention, then there's nothing like a good prank to get people looking. Nissan is taking a page from the old Candid Camera playbook to show off a new self-cleaning nano-paint technology called Ultra-Ever Dry. Turns out, when you spill a water-based paint on it, the paint just drips right off. And with enough hidden cameras, you can get the perfect passersby "Oh! Huh?" face on film. Part of the "World's Cleanest Car" campaign that Nissan had at the LA Auto Show, the stunt is meant to highlight the fact that the car is clean (i.e., zero emissions) and also clean (not dirty). Get it? Ha! Yeah, well, that's the joke. It works better on video, which you can see below. While the paint thing is mildly interesting (this isn't a production car, and Ultra-Ever Dry is just an example of what could be coming) we did find it notable that this is the first main Leaf campaign we can think of that promotes the car not as a plug-in vehicle first (remember the polar bear?) but as a car with some wacky cool new tech. Oh, and it happens to plug in. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. NISSAN'S "SELF-CLEANING LEAF" HITS THE STREETS, THEN THE WEB – "World's cleanest car" to be featured in an innovative social media campaign starting today – NASHVILLE, Tenn. (December 2, 2014) –The "world's cleanest car" is daring its fans to get it dirty. Starting today, Nissan will launch a social media campaign that will include a series of online videos to showcase a zero-emissions Nissan LEAF with self-cleaning nano-paint technology. Created to demonstrate its potential use in future production vehicles, this LEAF is armed with Ultra-Ever Dry® paint to help repel almost any liquid that may come its way. Nissan first introduced the one-of-a-kind LEAF this past April. "The LEAF is already one of the cleanest vehicles around even without this incredibly innovative paint technology; that said, we're not afraid to get our hands dirty to take this to the next level," said Pierre Loing, vice president, Product Planning, Nissan North America, Inc. "Getting fans involved via this social media campaign is a fun, creative way to show how the LEAF can stay clean no matter how dirty the world around it may be.