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VW was 2018's top-selling automaker — but

TOKYO — Volkswagen Group has held on to its position as the world's top-selling automaker for the fifth year in a row, although the German group was edged out again by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance in the light-duty vehicles segment. Renault SA, Nissan Motor Co Ltd and Mitsubishi Motors Corp together sold 10.76 million passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in 2018, according to Reuters' calculations after new data released on Wednesday. The group doesn't sell heavy trucks. Nissan said on Wednesday it sold 5.65 million vehicles last year, down 2.8 percent on the year. Mitsubishi reported an 18 percent rise in sales to 1.22 million units while Renault sold 3.88 million units, up 3.2 percent on the year. Volkswagen's deliveries rose 0.9 percent to a record 10.83 million last year, including its MAN and Scania heavy trucks, the German company said earlier this month. Excluding heavy trucks, it sold 10.6 million units. Toyota Motor Corp retained its third spot, announcing on Wednesday that it had sold 10.59 million vehicles last year including its Toyota and Lexus brands, along with minicars made by subsidiary Daihatsu and light and heavy trucks produced by its truck division Hino Motors Ltd. Excluding Hino trucks, Toyota sold 10.39 million units last year. The automaker has said it expects to sell a total of 10.76 million vehicles in 2019. Many automakers are trying to boost sales volumes to achieve economies of scale and reduce costs amid soaring investments needed to develop next-generation technologies, including self-driving cars and electric vehicles. This has been a focus of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors group, which is looking to share more vehicle parts and consolidate production platforms to trim R&D and manufacturing costs, while raising profitability. The alliance, which brought Mitsubishi Motors into its fold in 2016, is currently in crisis with its former Chairman Carlos Ghosn arrested and indicted on charges of misconduct. Nissan has also been indicted, and Renault appointed new top management last week. Related Video: Earnings/Financials Mitsubishi Nissan Toyota Volkswagen

Nissan will reduce its presence in Europe as part of turnaround plan

TOKYO — Nissan is planning to further reduce its presence in Europe and outsource the sales and manufacturing of its cars to alliance partner Renault, the daily Yomiuri newspaper reported on Friday. As part of its global turnaround plan, which is reversing a rapid expansion led by the ousted former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, Nissan will cut its distribution channels in thirty countries, mainly in East Europe. It is also planning to close its Avila plant in Spain and convert it into a warehouse, the report said. The report didn't provide details of the scale of the outsourcing. Calls to Nissan's public relations office went unanswered on Friday, a public holiday in Japan. The Japanese motor company is currently moving its operations away from Europe and shifting its focus to China, the United States, and Japan. Nissan, which expects to post a record operating loss of 340 billion yen ($3.25 billion) in the year to March 31, is cutting production capacity and model numbers by a fifth and aims to slash operating expenses by 300 billion yen over three years. The company's three-way alliance with Renault and Mitsubishi Motor was plunged into uncertainty in 2018, when Ghosn was arrested on financial misconduct charges, which he denies. He later fled Japan while being monitored by law enforcement and awaiting trial at his residence.

Nissan IDx Nismo and IDx Freeflow concepts are a bridge to the Datsun 510

We're not sure if someone from The Adjustment Bureau stopped by Nissan's PR department to explain the IDx Nismo and IDx Freeflow concepts, but the company's odd press release can't diminish our love for these two show favorites. We had been told to look out for an unnamed Datsun 510 BRE homage, and once we saw the brothers IDx, we knew we'd found them. But the press release doesn't mention anything about the Datsun 510 Brock Racing Enterprises, nor does it mention one Mr. Peter Brock, the man who won two Trans-Am championships in the Seventies for the nascent Japanese budget brand.
Instead, it declares that the cars were the result of a co-creation product development process with "digital natives," said natives being the whippersnappers born after 1990. Nissan says it worked with the young'uns to create two different expressions of "their desire for a basic, authentic configuration for a car." If that's true, it appears that what the kiddies really want are... two different homages to the Datsun 510 BRE that Peter Brock used to win two championships in the seventies for the nascent Japanese brand.
The IDx Freeflow - the "ID" is for "identification," the "x" is "the variable representing the new values and dreams born through communication" - takes the casual approach, with a light khaki exterior hue, a minimalist interior decked out in denim and a console shifter that works a continuously variable transmission. The IDx Nismo is out for blood, from its crimson interior to its five-point harness to its bolt-on flares and sidepipes. We aren't told what the digital natives requested for powerplants, but that's alright; if this is what "co-creation" looks like, we're not entirely against it except where that "CVT" is involved.