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Nissan returning to top-level US racing with this TUDOR entry

Muscle Milk Pickett Racing, formerly powered by Honda to two consecutive American Le Mans Series championships, is now officially powered by Nissan. The Japanese automaker's return to the top tier of US sports car racing comes with Nismo factory backing of the Muscle Milk entry in the newly created TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. Those with long memories will recall that Nissan walked away from America's then top-flight sports car series, IMSA, more than 20 years ago, having won 33 races, three manufacturer titles and four driver's titles from 1988 to 1991.
The ORECA 3 racecar's reveal also marks the introduction of Nismo Global Exchange drivers to the team. Alex Brundle, who drove for Nissan-powered OAK Racing last year in the FIA World Endurance Championship, will join Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. It's his first time in a major US event, but having finished second in the WEC and in the LMP2 class at Le Mans last year, he's no novice. Nismo drivers will also contest the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans.
The No. 6 Muscle Milk entry will be hitting the track with the other competitors this weekend during the "Roar before the Rolex 24," with the race itself happening on January 25-26. You can read more about what's coming in the press release below.

Renault plans $2.2 billion 'no taboos' cost cutting after first loss in a decade

PARIS — Renault's first loss in a decade triggered a no-taboos commitment on Friday to cut costs by 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) over the next three years as the automaker tries to put the Carlos Ghosn affair behind it. As ex-Volkswagen brand manager Luca de Meo prepares to take over as chief executive of the French automaker, which has been rocked by the Ghosn scandal, it did not exclude job cuts in a promised review of its performance across all factories. Like many auto industry rivals, including its alliance partner Nissan, Renault is grappling with tumbling demand in key markets like China, and said it expects the sector to be hit further this year, including in Europe. Nissan this week had its first quarterly loss in nearly 10 years and cut its operating profit forecast. In a reflection of this sobering assessment of the market outlook, Renault set a lower operating margin target of between 3% and 4% for 2020, down from 4.8% in 2019, and cut its proposed dividend against 2019 by almost 70% from a year earlier. While Renault faces high investment costs to produce cleaner car models and supply chain problems due to China's coronavirus outbreak, a major challenge remains moving on from the scandal involving former boss-turned fugitive Ghosn, which strained its relations with Nissan and paralyzed joint projects. "It has been a tough year for Groupe Renault and the alliance," acting Chief Executive Clotilde Delbos said on a conference call, adding that the broader autos downturn had hit the company "right when we were facing internal difficulties." Renault could not afford to wait for De Meo's arrival in July to attack costs, Delbos said, adding that nothing would be "taboo" as it reviews its business. Meatier goals would be made public in May, she said, alongside joint plans with Nissan, as executives repeated assurances that the alliance was on track. Delbos also stressed that Renault's automotive operational free cash flow, under scrutiny from analysts, would be positive in 2020 after stripping out restructuring costs. "We're very confident that there is no topic on cash availability within the group," Delbos said. Renault shares recovered from falls in early trading, and were up 1.8% at 1200 GMT despite it posting a loss of 141 million euros ($153 million) for the group share of net income.

Mitsubishi Motors halts some SUV sales in Japan as MPG scandal grows

Mitsubishi's fuel-economy scandal is going from bad to worse. First, the Japanese automaker claimed it lied about the fuel economy for a few kei cars, then it claimed fuel economy tests for as far back as 1991 could reveal mile-per-gallon figures that were tampered with. In May the automaker, admitted that every single vehicle it's sold in Japan could be affected by the fuel-economy scandal. Now, the Japanese automaker revealed that more of its vehicles were involved in the fuel-economy cheating scandal – and one of them is sold in the US. After completing its investigation into the automaker's fuel-economy scandal, Japan's Transport Ministry found that Mitsubishi overstated the fuel economy for eight more vehicles in marketing brochures, one of which is sold as the Outlander Sport in the US, reports Automotive News. The Transport Ministry ordered Mitsubishi to stop domestic sales of the models, which include the Pajero, Outlander, and RVR SUV (known as the Outlander Sport in the US). The latest finding adds to four kei cars that were previously noted for having overstated fuel economy figures earlier this year. Japan's sixth-largest automaker is having a hard time recuperating since the scandal broke earlier this April. The initial scandal led to the automaker suspending its sales, which caused a large dip in the automaker's market value. The scandal required Mitsubishi to seek financial assistance from Nissan, which agreed to buy a controlling 34-percent stake for $2.2 billion. Investigators hired by Mitsubishi to look into the automaker's overstated fuel economy figures revealed the company's "corporate culture" as the issue. More specifically, the investigators founds the company's pressure to improve fuel-efficiency figures, a lack of unity between divisions, and an unwillingness to accept fuel economy shortfalls as the reason for falsifying its vehicles' mpg figures. Mitsubishi is expected to compensate Japanese owners for the overstated fuel economy figures, which would result in a massive loss for the automaker. The company is expected to post a net loss of roughly $1.4 billion this year, pushing Mitsubishi into the red for the first time in approximately eight years. Related Video: News Source: Automotive News-sub.req.Image Credit: Tomohiro Ohsumi / Bloomberg via Getty Images Government/Legal Green Mitsubishi Nissan Fuel Efficiency kei car scandal