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Japan minister launches counterattack after Ghosn blasts justice system

TOKYO — Japan's justice minister launched a rare and forceful public takedown of auto executive-turned-fugitive Carlos Ghosn after he blasted the country's legal system as allowing him "zero chance" of a fair trial as he sought to justify his escape to Beirut. After his dramatic flight to Lebanon last month, Ghosn spoke in public for the first time on Wednesday, saying he had been treated "brutally" by Tokyo prosecutors. He said they questioned him for up to eight hours a day without a lawyer present and tried to extract a confession out of him. In an effort to undo Ghosn's attempt to sway public opinion in his favor, Justice Minister Masako Mori followed shortly with a statement, translated into English and French, and held a news conference after midnight and again around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday morning to defend Japan's justice system. "I decided to do this because defendant Ghosn was looking to justify his unlawful exit from Japan by propagating a false recognition of our justice system," she said at the second news conference. "I felt that we needed to respond immediately to broadcast a correct understanding to people around the world." Ghosn, the former chief of Nissan and Renault, fled Japan last month as he was awaiting trial on charges of under-reporting earnings, breach of trust, and misappropriation of company funds, all of which he denies. Mori said Ghosn's escape from his trial in itself "could constitute a crime" that would not be tolerated in any country. "My impression in listening to him was that there were few statements that were backed by any real evidence," she said. "If he wants to prove his innocence, he should face fair trial proceedings here," she added, stressing that the allegations against him concerned financial crimes in Japan. "That would be the mark of a first-class businessperson and good citizen." Mori blasted Ghosn for violating his bail by fleeing the country "without showing a passport and breaking international rules that everyone in the world follows." "It was a breach of faith that can't be explained to our children," she said. The spotlight on Japan's justice system comes as Mori is set to host in April the United Nations' Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, held once every five years.

Recharge Wrap-up: Formula E's other events, continued record EV sales

Formula E wants fans to know that it is more than just a race. During each ePrix weekend, the electric race series hosts a variety of events. For each race, Formula E sets up an eVillage where fans can meet drivers and get autographs, learn about electric vehicles, spectate Formula E's School Series races, enjoy live music and dance performances, play games, eat food and take part in numerous other activities that don't make their way into the television broadcast. Or course, though, the race is always the main event. See more in the video above. Electric vehicles enjoyed a fourth straight month of record sales in February. Despite low oil prices, customers bought an estimated 7,881 EVs last month, up 13 percent from a year before. 52 percent of those sales were battery electric vehicles, while the rest were plug-in hybrids. BMW i3 sales dropped 77 percent over a year ago, selling 248 cars. The Tesla Model S and Chevrolet Volt sold the most, while the Ford Fusion Energi outsold the Nissan Leaf for the first time. The Audi A3 E-Tron sold 248 units (same as the BMW i3) despite low inventory. Read more at Inside EVs. Renault more than doubled its EV sales in January compared to a year before. Sales were up 104 percent, at 1,886 units (1,977 if you include the Twizy). This January marked higher EV sales for Renault than the three previous years. The biggest selling Renault EV, which also happened to be Europe's best selling EV, was the Renault Zoe, up 105 percent at 1,416 units sold. Read more at Inside EVs. Nissan's "No Charge to Charge" promotion has expanded to Orlando, Florida. This is the 27th market in the US to offer free charging to Nissan Leaf customers. Buyers and lessees get two years of free charging with an EZ-Charge card, which works with AeroVironment, Blink, ChargePoint, Greenlots and NRG eVgo charging networks. "Significantly lower operating costs and a fun-to-drive nature make owning the all-electric Leaf a cost-effective and convenient choice for Orlando residents," says Nissan EV Sales & Marketing Director Andrew Speaker. Read more in the press release below. Nissan's "No Charge to Charge" program increases to 27 cities in the U.S. with the addition of Orlando Free public, electric vehicle charging now offered to new Nissan LEAF buyers in the Orlando metro area ORLANDO – Nissan's "No Charge to Charge" promotion has officially arrived to the Sunshine State.

Nissan bringing GT-R LM Nismo back to WEC

Things didn't go exactly as planned when Nissan entered Le Mans this year with the GT-R LM Nismo. First years of a new racing program seldom do. But the radical front-drive LMP1 prototype performed so poorly that it looked for a while like Nissan would scrap the program altogether. Fortunately, however, the Japanese automaker has announced that the GT-R LM Nismo it is coming back. Several changes are afoot for next season. For starters, while the prototype only competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year, Nissan says it "will return to race in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2016" – of which Le Mans is just part. It isn't saying how many of the races it will contest, exactly, but the calendar currently consists of nine events: Silverstone, Spa, Le Mans, the Nurburgring, Mexico City, Texas, Fuji, Shanghai, and Bahrain. Hopefully we'll be seeing the Nissan team at all nine events, especially the one at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, where it can be seen undergoing testing in the fresh and massive image gallery above. Schedules aside, Nissan has appointed a new principal to run the team. Brought in "to share the heavy load on Ben Bowlby's shoulders" will be Mike Carcamo, who moves from his job at Nissan Mexico to serve as the WEC team principal. Outgoing principal Bowlby does, however, appear to be staying on in an as-yet undisclosed capacity. Finally, Nissan says that "multiple changes have been made to the car since Le Mans," and you can bet that's a huge understatement. We won't know what those changes constitute, exactly, but the automaker is certainly hoping that they'll prove enough to make the car competitive. In its debut at Le Mans this year, two of the three cars failed to finish, and the third wasn't classified since it didn't cover enough distance. Related Video: NISSAN GT-R LM NISMO TO MAKE RACING RETURN IN 2016 Nissan's innovative LM P1 racer to complete test programme before returning to WEC YOKOHAMA, JAPAN - 1 October 2015: Nissan today announced that the innovative Nissan GT-R LM NISMO will return to race in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2016. The team has been working hard to address the technical issues faced at Le Mans in June and is in the middle of a comprehensive test and development programme to prepare the new car to race against the tough competition it faces in the LM P1 class.