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Feds arrest two men accused of smuggling Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a box

Authorities say this Dec. 30, 2019, image from security camera video shows Michael Taylor, center, and George-Antoine Zayek at passport control at Istanbul Airport in Turkey. Taylor, a former Green Beret and his son, Peter Taylor, 27, were arrested Wednesday in Massachusetts on charges they smuggled Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a box in December 2019, while he awaited trial there on financial misconduct charges. / Getty Images   WASHINGTON — A former Green Beret and his son were arrested Wednesday in Massachusetts on charges they smuggled Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a box while he awaited trial there on financial misconduct charges. Michael Taylor, a 59-year-old former Green Beret and private security specialist, and Peter Taylor, 27, are wanted by Japan on charges they helped Ghosn escape the country in December after he was released on bail. The men were arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service in Harvard and were expected to appear before a judge via videoconference later Wednesday. The tale of the daring escape began on Dec. 28, 2019, when Peter Taylor arrived in Japan and met with Ghosn at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo for about an hour, authorities said. Just before 10 a.m. the next day, Michael Taylor flew into Osaka, Japan, on a chartered Bombardier Global Express jet from Dubai with another man, George-Antoine Zayek, carrying two large black boxes with them. The elder Taylor was experienced with sticky situations. Over the years, he has been hired by parents to rescue abducted children, gone undercover for the FBI in a sting on a Massachusetts drug gang and worked as a contractor for the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. The last assignment had landed him in a Utah jail for 14 months, caught in a federal contract fraud case that upended TaylorÂ’s family and finances before he agreed to plead guilty to two charges. It's not clear yet how Ghosn hooked up with Taylor. At their arrival, Taylor and Zayek, his Lebanese-born colleague, told airport employees they were musicians carrying audio equipment. Meanwhile, Ghosn, who was out of custody on a hefty bail, headed to the Grand Hyatt in Tokyo and met up with Peter Taylor in his hotel room, authorities said. The elder Taylor and Zayek joined after a brief stop to rent a separate room near the airport. And soon after their arrival, the group left the Grand Hyatt and split up.

Chevy Volt has worst sales month since August 2011, Nissan Leaf also down

January is traditionally a time when new car shoppers take a break. For the last few years, if we isolate our focus to just the first two major plug-in cars in the US market, we see that the first month of the year was lower – often dramatically lower – than the 11 that followed. So, when you see the Chevy Volt dropped and Nissan Leaf sales figures for January 2015, don't be too surprised. The Volt sold only 542 units last month, that model's lowest since August 2011. That also represents a 41 percent drop from January 2014, and it reinforces the thought that if anyone out there is interested in a new Volt, they're going to be waiting for the new model to drop later this year. While we do expect sales to climb in February and into spring, we won't be surprised if the general Volt trend remains quiet until the second-generation arrives. On the Leaf side of the ledger, January's low sales numbers were still about twice as high as the Volt's – the Leaf sold 1,070 units last month, the lowest since February 2013 – but it did break a streak for the Japanese automaker. Usually, each month represents at least an increase over the same month a year ago, but that wasn't the case this time. In January 2014, Nissan sold 1,252 Leafs. Still, Brendan Jones, Nissan's director of electric vehicle sales and infrastructure, issued an upbeat statement: "We saw a significant increase in demand in December from Nissan Leaf customers looking to take advantage of federal and state incentives at the end of the tax year, which pulled some sales ahead. We're confident that EV sales will continue to rise over time due to increasing emission regulations and other reasons for purchase of EVs such as lower operating costs, reducing dependence on foreign energy sources, environmental concerns and a great driving experience." The numbers will tell us soon enough. News Source: General Motors, Nissan Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid ev sales brendan jones

Williams developing hybrid system for next Nissan GT-R?

Back in June, Nissan announced a new partnership with Williams that would see the Formula One team's applied sciences division help develop a new line of Nismo performance models. It's not the only agreement Renault-Nissan has signed with an F1 team: Infiniti is the title sponsor for Red Bull and Renault powers four teams on the grid. It's also just the latest client Williams has signed a deal with to apply the lessons it has gleaned on the F1 circuit to other racing and sportscars. But now we've got some more info on how Williams and Nismo intend to collaborate on the next-generation GT-R.
According to Australia's Carsales, Williams Advanced Engineering is developing the hybrid powertrain that will boost the next iteration of the supercar-slayer known as Godzilla. Which may seem strange considering that the Renault-Nissan Alliance has plenty of experience with electric propulsion on its own, but then Williams has proven itself something of a leader in the field of performance hybrid powertrains: it supplies them to Porsche and Audi for their Le Mans racecars, and to Jaguar for the C-X75 concept.
Whether Williams and Nismo will settle on a flywheel-based energy recovery system or a more conventional battery-powered system remains to be seen, but brakeforce regeneration likely won't be the only element that Williams will develop for the next GT-R. Expect its expertise in aerodynamics and composites to come to bear as well, which can only mean good things for the replacement for a sportscar that's already one of the most capable on the road.