2011 Nissan Sentra Sr Sedan 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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Infiniti teases QX Monograph concept for Pebble reveal

Infiniti is planning on showing a new concept car during Monterey Car Week called the QX Monograph. In case you lost track of time, that’s next week, as the concept car will officially be unveiled on Thursday, August 17. Infiniti is planning on holding a press conference at The Lodge at Pebble Beach where Alfonso Albaisa, senior VP of design, will present the vehicle. Infiniti says the new concept will showcase the “future direction of InfinitiÂ’s design direction.” A single teaser image gives us a glimpse of the grille and the Infiniti logo on the front. There isnÂ’t a lot Infiniti is saying about the QX Monograph yet, but weÂ’re told it features “digital piano key” lighting, bold proportions and the aforementioned double-arched grille. Of course, since itÂ’s a QX model, we should also expect it to be an SUV concept and not any other body style. Beyond the concept car, Infiniti says itÂ’s bringing never-before-seen quarter-scale design models from Nissan archives to display publicly. In total, four of these models will be shown, including the 1916 DAT 41, 1966 Prince Skyline 2000-GTB, 1970 Nissan Skyline H/T and the 1995 Nissan Skyline GT-R. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Nissan officials answer to angry shareholders on red ink, Ghosn scandal

Smoke engulfs the Nissan logo as workers burn tires during a protest in Barcelona, Spain, where the automaker is closing its plant, costing 3,000 direct jobs. (AP/Emilio Morenatti)     TOKYO — Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida told shareholders Monday he is giving up half his pay after the Japanese automaker sank into the red amid plunging sales and plant closures in Spain and Indonesia. Uchida apologized for the poor results and promised a recovery by 2023, driven by cost cuts and new models showcasing electric-car and automated-driving technology. “We will tackle these challenges without compromise,” he said at a live-streamed meeting. “I promise to bring Nissan back on a growth track.” Executives for the company also blasted suggestions in media reports of a conspiracy within the company to oust Carlos Ghosn. The former chairman's 2018 arrest in Japan on financial misconduct charges has led to much speculation that the move was orchestrated by Nissan executives who opposed closer ties with partner Renault. “I know that in books and the media there has been talk about a conspiracy, but there are no facts whatsoever to support this,” Motoo Nagai, chairman of NissanÂ’s auditing committee, told shareholders at the companyÂ’s annual general meeting. Responding to demands from a shareholder to address the speculation, Nagai argued that the investigation into Ghosn was conducted both internally and by outside law firms. All the worldÂ’s automakers have been hurt by nose-diving sales caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But the problems are especially serious for Nissan, which already was fighting to salvage its reputation after the financial misconduct scandal of former star executive Ghosn. Nissan, based in Yokohama, Japan, sank into its first annual loss in 11 years, reporting a 671.2 billion yen ($6.3 billion) loss for the fiscal year that ended in March. It has not given a projection for this fiscal year, citing uncertainties over the virus outbreak. One angry shareholder got up and said executives should give up more of their pay since investors were getting zero dividends. Another said Nissan needed to do more to strengthen its governance, arguing things have been getting worse, not better, since the departure of Ghosn.

The mood at this year’s Paris Motor Show: Quiet

The Paris Motor Show, held every other year in the early fall, typically kicks off the annual cavalcade of automotive conclaves, one that traverses the globe between autumn and spring, introducing projective, conceptual and production-ready vehicle models to the international automotive press, automotive aficionados and a public hungry for news of our increasingly futuristic mobility enterprise. But this year, at the press preview days for the show, the grounds of the Porte de Versailles convention center felt a bit more sparsely populated than usual. This was not simply a subjective sensation, or one influenced by the center's atypically dispersed assemblage of seven discrete buildings, which tends to spread out the cars and the crowds. There were not only fewer new vehicles being premiered in Paris this year, there were fewer manufacturers there to display them. Major mainstream European OEM stalwarts such as Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Nissan and Volkswagen chose to sit out Paris this year, as did boutique manufacturers like Bentley, Aston Martin and Lamborghini. This is not simply based in some antipathy on the part of the German, British and Italian manufacturers toward the French market — though for a variety of historical and societal reasons that market may be more dominated by vehicles produced domestically than others. Rather, it is part of a larger trend in the industry. Last year, Mercedes-Benz announced that it would not be participating in the flagship North American International Auto Show in 2019 — and that it might not return. Other brands including Jaguar/Land Rover, Audi, Porsche, Mazda and nearly every exotic carmaker have also departed the Detroit show. Some of these brands will still appear in the city in which the show is taking place, and host an event offsite, to capitalize on the presence of a large number of reporters in attendance. And even brands that do have a presence at the show have shifted their vehicle introductions to the days before the official press opening in an attempt to stand out from the crowd. In many ways, this makes sense. With an expanding number of automakers, with diversification and niche-ification of models and with wholesale shifts that necessitate the introduction of EV or autonomous sub-brands, there is a growing sense that, with everyone shouting at the same time, no one can be heard.