2008 Nissan Sentra 2.0 S on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Carlos Ghosn's jail time extended, as family says he was framed

TOKYO — Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn will be detained at least through Jan. 11, the Tokyo District Court said Monday, as the once-revered auto industry figure faces allegations that have marked a stunning downfall. Ghosn, who led Nissan Motor Co. for two decades and helped save the Japanese automaker from near bankruptcy, was arrested Nov. 19 on suspicion of falsifying financial reports. He also faces a breach of trust allegation, for which his detention had been approved previously through Jan. 1. The Tokyo District Court said in a statement that it had approved prosecutors' request for a 10-day extension. Ghosn has been charged in the first set of allegations, about under-reporting Ghosn's pay by about 5 billion yen ($44 million) in 2011-2015. Related: Top 10 automotive stories of 2018 Those close to Ghosn and his family say he is asserting his innocence as the alleged underreported amount of money was never really decided or paid, and Nissan never suffered any monetary losses from the alleged breach of trust. It is unclear when Ghosn may be released on bail. Tokyo prosecutors consider Ghosn, a Brazilian-born Frenchman of Lebanese ancestry, a flight risk. In Japan, formal charges can mean a suspect will get detained for months, sometimes until the trial starts, because of fears of tampered evidence. Some experts are puzzled that the allegations against Kelly and Ghosn are about underreporting income from Nissan. Nissan is in charge of filing such financial reports, not individual executives. Over the weekend, The New York Times published an article, "The Rise and Fall of Carlos Ghosn," describing his arrest as well as his almost legendary ascendance as the outsider who saved Nissan: "He was a person who was above the clouds," said one Nissan employee. But it's clear from the article that his autocratic style has long rankled the Japanese. In a sidebar, the NYT also covered accusations from Ghosn's daughters that Nissan had set him up for a fall, part of a mutiny against his explorations of a merger between Nissan and Renault. They point out that Hiroto Saikawa, the chief executive of Nissan, complained about the nature of the alliance in the first news conference following Ghosn's arrest. "Wow," daughter Caroline Ghosn said. "He didn't even waste a breath. He didn't even try to cover up the fact that the merger had something to do with this." The NYT articles included Ghosn family photos showing a softer side to the stern auto executive.

As of today, Nissan has sold 50,000 Leafs in the US, 115,000 globally

Watch out, America, there are 50,000 Nissan Leaf electric vehicles prowling your streets. That's the official word from Nissan, which says it has just delivered the 50,000th Leaf – a black SL model – to Todd and Lisa Bolt in Dallas, Texas. Todd is a pastor at the Gateway Church in Southlake, where there almost two dozen Leaf drivers who call themselves the "Blessed LEAFs Club." We're not making that up. Divinely inspired or not, Todd said in a statement that the EV completely meets the family's needs and that, "I don't know why we'd buy another gas car." Last September, Nissan announced it had sold 35,000 Leaf EVs in the US so far, and the 25,000 mark came in May last year. Globally, "nearly 115,000" Leafs have been sold, which makes Nissan's workhorse the most popular EV by a long shot. To celebrate the occasion, Nissan has put together an infographic (click to enlarge) showing the cumulative effects of all those electric vehicles on the roads. While they're only estimates based on taking the actual data from the CarWings connected vehicles (which make up 55 percent of the total fleet) and extrapolating, the numbers are still impressive. Around 906,000,000 miles driven, which means 241,000 metric tons of CO2 saved from going into the air. 50,000 Leaf sales is a big deal, sure, but we're much more keen on those cleaner air figures. Read more below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. NISSAN DELIVERS 50,000TH ALL-ELECTRIC LEAF IN U.S. TO TEXAS FAMILY DALLAS (May 23, 2014) -- Nissan, the global leader in electric vehicle (EV) sales, achieved another milestone this month as Dallas residents Todd and Lisa Bolt made Nissan LEAF the first all-electric model to hit 50,000 sales in the U.S. The Bolt family took delivery of their black LEAF SL earlier this month at AutoNation Nissan of Lewisville. Thanks to enthusiastic owner advocates, robust public charging infrastructure and the launch of a successful free charging promotion, Dallas – and the state of Texas – have become hot growth markets for LEAF. So far in 2014, LEAF sales in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex have grown by about 50 percent over the previous year, with that growth set to accelerate faster thanks in part to the introduction of a new state tax rebate of up to $2,500 on the purchase or lease of a new Nissan LEAF.

The Nissan Ariya was nearly the new Murano

NEW YORK — In addition to providing thoughts on a future Xterra while at the New York International Auto Show, Nissan Americas Senior Vice President and Chief Planning Officer Ponz Pandikuthira also talked with us a bit about EVs, and more specifically model lines and nameplates. We've seen a few strategies ranging from almost completely new and parallel model lines (such as Hyundai's Ioniqs and Kia's EV#s), to reusing old names on still similarly parallel models (such as Chevy's Equinox, Blazer and Silverado EVs), and of course blends of the two. So far, Nissan has gone with the separate model route with Leaf and Ariya, but that may not be as much the case in the future. Pandikuthira noted that now, consumers don't have as much interest in their EVs being some completely unique, statement piece. As such, both Nissan and Infiniti will be adding EVs to existing nameplates more so than totally new model lines. He didn't say whether they would simply be electric variants of existing internal combustion models, or something like Chevy's model, though. But he did note that the Nissan Ariya was, at one point, considered as a possible Murano successor. It certainly would make sense to us. The Ariya is a distinct-looking crossover, and one with a very upscale interior, both key tenets of the Murano from that model's introduction in the early 2000s. Plus, the Murano is in pretty dire need of a replacement, as the current generation dates back nearly a decade ago to the 2015 model year. The reason Pandikuthira gave for the Ariya decision was that the crossover represented enough of a change in Nissan's EV technology and capabilities that the brand wanted to highlight that with a unique nameplate. Nissan won't be ruling out the possibility of new EV-only models, though. Just like with Ariya, Pandikuthira told us that if a planned car is unique enough, the company will still be open to a new line. But expect more, say, electric Rogues and Altimas than totally new names. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.