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Nissan may take control of struggling Mitsubishi Motors

Update: The reports were largely correct. Nissan will take a 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi for roughly $2.2b. Read all about it here. Reports say Nissan will buy a controlling stake in Mitsubishi Motors, either 30 or 34 percent, for about 200 billion yen or $1.84 billion. Nissan and Mitsubishi motors are currently part of a joint venture, NMKV, to build minicars together. Nissan is also responsible for reporting fuel-economy discrepancies with cars built under the joint-venture agreement, which put Mitsubishi in its current weakened state. Earlier today, reports surfaced that the fuel-economy issues were wider ranging than originally thought. Mitsubishi now admits that all of its Japanese-market cars sold since 1991 could have had faked fuel-economy data. Shares of Mitsubishi Motors have dropped by about half since the scandal was uncovered, opening the door for a takeover. While Nissan is a much larger company, it can benefit from Mitsubishi's 60-percent share of Japan's minicar market. The two companies also had plans to build electric vehicles together in the joint venture. Japan's Nikkei reports that talks are ongoing between the company and that a decision could be made Thursday by the companies' boards. Related Video: News Source: Nikkei Green Mitsubishi Nissan

Junkyard Gem: 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT coupe

2001 was an eventful year for sport compacts, with "The Fast and the Furious" hitting the big screen and the "spider eye" Acura Integra entering its final model year. Mitsubishi Motors North America had released a new version of the Eclipse the year before, bigger and more luxurious than its predecessors; today's Junkyard Gem is one of those third-generation Eclipses, the fastest and most furious version available in 2001: a GT coupe with V6 engine and five-speed manual transmission, found in a Colorado Springs boneyard recently. Named for a 17th-century racehorse, the Eclipse (not to be confused with the present-day Eclipse Cross) began life in the 1990 model year as a Galant-based liftback coupe built in partnership with Chrysler at the new Diamond-Star Motors plant in Normal, Illinois (where Rivians are born today). Chrysler sold its own versions of the Eclipse for a while, with the Plymouth Laser produced through 1994 and the Eagle Talon surviving until the Eagle brand's demise in 1998. By the time this car was built, its closest relatives were the Galant, the Chrysler Sebring coupe and the Dodge Stratus coupe. The MSRP for the GT Coupe was $20,947, or about $35,789 in 2023 dollars. You could get a brand-new Integra GS-R for $22,300 ($38,101 today) in 2001, while the Dodge Neon ACR listed at just $13,845 ($23,655 now). This car was quite a bit more powerful than the 170-horsepower Integra GS-R, with this 3.0-liter 6G72 V6 and its 210 horses under the hood. The workhorse 6G72 went into far too many Mitsubishi, Chrysler and Hyundai vehicles to list here; highlights include the Chrysler TC by Maserati, the Chrysler LeBaron, the Mitsubishi Montero/Dodge Raider, the Mitsubishi Diamante and the Mitsubishi 3000GT/Dodge Stealth. This car has the five-speed manual transmission, as is proper. Buyers who insisted on the four-speed automatic had to shell out an extra grand, or $1,709 after inflation. This car appears to have been in decent cosmetic condition when it arrived at its final parking spot. These stickers were mandatory equipment on Eclipses during the 2000s. Likewise with multiple-bolt-pattern aftermarket wheels. This generation of Eclipse stayed in production through 2004, with its successor continuing to be sold through 2012. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Subprime financing on the rise in new car sales, leasing too

We all remember the financial crisis that began several years back. At its core was a splurge of subprime lending for housing loans. The housing bubble burst, triggering a collapse of the mortgage-backed securities market. Apparently, those types of loans still exist in the automotive industry, and the market share for these types of "nonprime, subprime, and deep subprime," loans has grown 13.6 percent compared to the third quarter a year ago.
According to an Automotive News report, high-risk lending expanded to 24.8 percent of total loans in Q3, up from 21.9 percent for this time last year. As this level increased, average credit scores of borrowers dropped to 755, down from 763 a year ago. In that time, the average financing amount increased $90 per vehicle, to $25,963.
At 818, Volvo maintains the highest per-owner credit score, while Mitsubishi has the lowest, at 694. The highest rate of borrowers was at Toyota, with 14 percent of the market, followed by Ford with 13.1 percent and Chevrolet at 11.1.