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2014 Nissan Versa Note

Incredible Value Has Trouble Winning Hearts
How important is vehicle sticker price? How imperative is fuel economy? What about passenger room and technology?
Nissan is hoping that consumers find all four objective measurements significant, because the all-new 2014 Versa Note excels in each of those areas. Not only does the five-door deliver the most competitive pricing, but it provides best-in-class combined fuel economy and best-in-class total interior volume. And the new model offers a full range of innovative technology, including available navigation and the automaker's impressive Around-View monitor to ease parking.

Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida rules out closer capital ties with Renault

YOKOHAMA — Nissan is committed to its automaking alliance with Renault but will not look to deepen its capital ties with the French automaker any time soon, its new CEO said on Monday. On his first day in the new position, chief executive Makoto Uchida also pledged to repair profitability at Japan's No. 2 automaker and said setting realistic targets would be key toward that goal, as it tries to make a clean break from the leadership of former chairman Carlos Ghosn. "Closer capital ties with Renault are not a focus in the short term," he told reporters. Uchida became CEO of Nissan on Dec. 1, as the car maker tries to recover from a profit slump and draw a line under a year of turmoil after the Ghosn scandal. The ousted chairman is fighting financial misconduct charges in Japan. One of the new CEO's big tasks is to salvage ties with Renault, which have deteriorated since Ghosn's ouster as chairman of both companies. Renault holds a 43.4% stake in Nissan after it saved the Japanese automaker from financial ruin two decades ago, and has pushed for the two companies to merge. In rejecting a notion of a merger with Renault, Uchida, 53, echoes his predecessor Hiroto Saikawa, who stepped down in September. He added that the alliance must re-think how it can serve all of its three members, which also includes Mitsubishi Motors. "The alliance has to benefit each of its partners in terms of revenue and profit," he said. "We need to re-evaluate what has worked and what hasn't worked in the alliance in the past few years." The CEO called for Nissan to set "challenging but achievable" targets, adding that this and the launch of more new car models and vehicle technologies would be key to its financial recovery. Nissan is bracing for its lowest annual profit in 11 years and has slashed its dividend by 65%. Its struggles come at a time when car companies desperately need scale to keep up with sweeping technological changes like electric vehicles and ride-hailing. "Somewhere along the way we created a culture of setting targets which could not be achieved," Uchida said, adding that this had resulted in a focus on short-term results. "Years of this had led Nissan to its current "difficult situation," he said, using heavy vehicle discounting in the U.S. market as an example of how aggressive sales targets to grow market share had deteriorated the company's brand.

Renault chairman dismisses reports Nissan wants to split from alliance

PARIS — Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said on Thursday there was a "real desire" within the top ranks of both companies for its alliance with Nissan to succeed, dismissing suggestions the partnership was on the rocks. Turmoil within the Franco-Japanese alliance, long dogged by internal rivalries, deepened following the November 2018 arrest in Tokyo of its architect and long-time boss Carlos Ghosn on charges of financial crimes, which he denies. Attempts to restore calm were dealt a fresh blow by Ghosn's dramatic flight from Japanese justice and a series of no-holds-barred allegations he has made from his refuge in Lebanon, including that he was the victim of a plot to oust him and that the alliance is now a "masquerade". Nissan has vigorously rejected Ghosn's stance, while both the Japanese firm and Renault have tried to rubbish suggestions their two decades old partnership is falling apart. "We have a board overseeing the alliance which is made up of people who are all extremely in favor of the alliance," Renault Chairman Senard told a briefing with reporters. "There is a common desire to associate our strategic plans and a real desire to make this alliance a success," he added, dismissing a report that Nissan was examining scenarios for a possible future outside of the alliance as "fake news." The 66-year-old declined to comment on anything related to Ghosn, adding: "I only think about the future." Renault shares were down 2% by 1123 GMT, underperfoming the broader auto sector which was down on news that Washington has threatened to impose tariffs on European car imports due to Europe's stance on Iran. Renault's French rival and Peugeot maker PSA Group also gave a flavor of some industry headwinds, reporting a 10% fall in its global sales last year as Chinese demand tanked. Renault is due to publish its 2019 global sales on Friday. JOINT PROJECTS Analysts see Renault-Nissan's cost-saving alliance as vital to both companies as the car industry battles a slowdown and huge investments in cleaner vehicles and automated driving, particularly as rivals PSA and Fiat Chrysler are merging to help meet these challenges. Renault held ultimately unsuccessful talks to combine with Fiat Chrysler last year, which Ghosn described at a Beirut news conference as a huge missed opportunity. Senard, who chairs the alliance's operating board, said on Thursday that once the partnership has been rebooted, other firms might potentially want to join.