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NHTSA opens investigation into Nissan's handling of airbag recall

In March of 2014, Nissan recalled eight models among its Nissan and Infiniti brands, totaling more than one million vehicles, over faulty occupant classification system software controlling the passenger airbag. The company discovered a variety of factors that would interfere with the system's ability to detect an adult passenger in the shotgun seat, resulting in an illuminated warning on on the dashboard and the passenger airbag not deploying in an accident. Yet 124 complaints submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration since the recall allege that the dealer-installed fix hasn't actually fixed the problem; some consumers say the problem persists after multiple trips to the dealer. The Detroit News reports that NHTSA is opening an investigation into the matter to determine whether a new recall is needed. The occupant sensor has been a bugbear for Nissan over the past couple of years; a much smaller recall for the issue in 2013 covered five of the eight vehicles that were recalled in 2014, and that earlier recall also continued to generate complaints after the issue had supposedly been fixed. At the same time, the company learned that in two instances there was another twist, where the dashboard warning wasn't illuminated but the passenger airbag still didn't go off in an accident. Nissan isn't alone, though, with airbag recalls on a steep upswing across the industry even before the Takata debacle.

Infiniti boss De Nysschen confirms next-gen Q60 Coupe, ponders high-performance variants

We've known since mid-December that Infiniti's new global model naming convention would turn the current-generation G37 Coupe into the Q60 Coupe starting next year, but we haven't been clear on whether the model-range-formerly-known-as-G would get a successor, especially as its volume has traditionally been a lot lower than its sedan counterpart.
Thankfully, Infiniti president Johann De Nysschen (above) has stepped up to confirm that the newly revealed Q50 sedan will receive a two-door counterpart, though perhaps not as quickly as some would like. According to an interview with Australia's CarAdvice.com, De Nysschen says "the coupe we can probably expect two-and-a-half to three years down the road." That news also suggests that if there's an eventual convertible version, that it's a long way off, too. Why so long? Infiniti has "a lot of priorities" - priorities that undoubtedly include an already-confirmed front-wheel-drive small hatchback/crossover.
The report also indicates that Infiniti has some aspirations for stretching its new Q50/Q60 range in a higher-performance direction to take on competitors like BMW and Audi, the latter being De Nysschen's former employer. There's far from a firm timetable offered, of course, with De Nysschen saying "someday in the future we will be able to offer more high performance versions [of Q50] than we have today... the dynamic capabilities of this platform are very significant. It can handle far higher power than the engines we are using at launch."

BMW reclaims US luxury sales crown from Mercedes

The numbers, they are in: BMW has reclaimed the luxury-sales crown from Mercedes by a margin of 9,347 cars. Mercedes donned the king's headgear in 2013 after a strong final quarter of 2013 when the new CLA and S-Class poured out of dealerships. This year, led by the 3 Series/4 Series and X5, BMW sold 339,738 units – a 9.8-percent increase year-on-year. Mercedes, led by the C-Class and M-Class, saw its sales go up by 5.7 percent to 330,391 units. We'll have to wait a bit to see if there's another registrations-vs-sales challenge as in 2012, when BMW was anointed US luxury ruler. Behind them, a dark horse named Lexus nudged closer to the leading Teutons, selling 311,389 cars. The Japanese luxury automaker also had the biggest gain among the top three, its sales rising by 13.7 percent compared to 2013. Audi had the biggest sales of anyone among the top five, though, with a 15.2-percent gain to 182,011, which moved it a spot ahead of Cadillac; the Wreath-and-Crest brand dropped 6.5 percent to 170,750. Acura (167,843), Infiniti (117,300), and Lincoln (94,474) took the final positions. Speaking of Lincoln, sales at the once-mighty luxury marque stand as the mightiest jump of any on this list, up 15.6 percent. That's the power of Matthew McConaughey... and better cars and a new crossover, sure. So now that we're back to Round One of 2015, in case no one else has said it yet: "Ok, fight!"