2005 Mitsubishi Eclipse Gt Coupe 2-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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Ex-Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn indicted, may remain in jail for months

TOKYO — Nissan's ex-chairman Carlos Ghosn was charged Friday with breach of trust, according to the Tokyo District Court, making the star executive's release unlikely for months. Ghosn, arrested Nov. 19, was earlier charged with falsifying financial reports in underreporting his income by about 5 billion yen ($44 million) over five years through 2015. Ghosn; Greg Kelly, another Nissan executive; and Nissan as a legal entity also were charged Friday with additional underreporting of income, from 2015 through mid-2018. Ghosn's lawyer Motonari Ohtsuru said he would request that Ghosn be granted release on bail. His detention period for the breach of trust allegations was due to expire Friday. Kelly and Nissan were not charged with breach of trust. Those allegations center on Ghosn's handling of investment losses and payments made to a Saudi businessman. Ghosn, 64, says he's innocent. Suspects in Japan are routinely held for months until trials start, and Tokyo prosecutors maintain that Ghosn, a Brazilian-born Frenchman of Lebanese ancestry, is a flight risk. Earlier this week Ghosn told a Tokyo court he was innocent, in his first public appearance since his arrest, and appealed for his detention to end. But the court rejected that request. "I have a genuine love and appreciation for Nissan," Ghosn told the court. "In all of my efforts on behalf of the company, I have acted honorably, legally and with the knowledge and approval of the appropriate executives inside the company." He said the compensation was never decided on, the investment deal never resulted in any losses to Nissan, and the payments to the Saudi businessman were for legitimate services related to dealers and investments in the Gulf. Ghosn, who appeared much thinner than before his arrest, came down with a fever the day after his court appearance, but has since recovered, Ohtsuru, the lawyer, said. His wife Carole Ghosn issued a statement overnight out of Paris, expressing concern over his sickness. "I am pleading with the Japanese authorities to provide us with any information at all about my husband's health. We are fearful and very worried his recovery will be complicated while he continues to endure such harsh conditions and unfair treatment," she said. Apart from prosecutors, only embassy officials and Ghosn's lawyers are allowed to visit him. Such visits were canceled Thursday but resumed Friday.

Junkyard Gem: 1989 Mitsubishi Galant Sedan

The history of the Mitsubishi Galant in North America goes all the way back to the 1971 model year, when Chrysler imported the first-generation Galant and badged it as the Dodge Colt. Later in the 1970s, we got Galant coupes badged as Dodge Challengers and Plymouth Sapporos, and Mitsubishi began selling Galants (now with front-wheel-drive) with the company's own badging starting in the 1985 model year. The sixth-generation Galant arrived here for the 1989 model year, as a stylish and technology-packed competitor to the Taurus, Camry, and Accord, and it made a fair-sized splash in the automotive world. You'd have a tough time finding one of these cars today, but this '89 appeared in a self-service yard in Phoenix a couple of months back and I was there to document it. 159,385 miles is a respectable total for a 1980s car, and this one looks clean enough to indicate that it had conscientious owners for most of its 31-year life. Check out the dual analog trip counters, the sort of cool little feature Mitsubishi did so well during this era. One of this car's owners (probably its final owner) applied glue-on bling to many locations inside the car. A fairly typical Japanese sedan interior for the late 1980s and early 1990s, though a bit flashier than what Toyota and Honda were doing at the time. The base Galant sedan listed at $10,971 in 1989, versus $12,400 for a Ford Taurus L sedan, $12,105 for a base Chevrolet Celebrity sedan, $11,488 for a base Toyota Camry sedan, and $11,770 for a Honda Accord DX sedan. That was a good price for a competent and fuel-efficient sedan with a modicum of sportiness. Power came from a 2.0-liter 4G63 Sirius four-cylinder rated at 102 horsepower. This engine went into a list of vehicles longer than a Mitsubishi HIIB rocket, everything from the Eclipse to the Great Wall Coolbear, and you can buy a brand-new BAW BJ2022 Brave Warrior with 4G63 power to this day. Protected by the Nassau County PBA and Radio Shack. This car must have begun its career in New York, then moved to Arizona. Some Americans still bought midsize sedans with manual transmissions during this era, but their numbers were in steep decline (Ford stopped selling three-pedal Tauruses, other than the SHO after 1988). This car has an automatic, though I have found a bullet-riddled '91 Galant with a 5-speed during my junkyard travels. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Nissan slashes profit forecast as Ghosn arrest hurts brand appeal

TOKYO — Nissan cut its profit forecast for the fiscal year through March on Wednesday to reflect slowing sales, higher costs and the fallout from a criminal investigation of its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn. Nissan Motor Co. expects to post a 319 billion yen ($2.9 billion) profit for the fiscal year, marking a 22% drop from its earlier 410 billion yen ($3.7 billion) forecast. Nissan said the downgrade reflects higher costs in the U.S. from a warranty extension campaign for some vehicles and falling sales due to "corporate issues," alluding to the Ghosn scandal. Ghosn was arrested in November and is facing charges of underreporting his income and breach of trust. He says he is innocent. He was released on bail in March and is awaiting another court decision on bail after his re-arrest on April 4. Nissan, which is allied with Renault SA of France, has seen sales lag in France and Japan, where Ghosn is widely known. In the U.S. and China, buyers aren't as affected by the scandal, but the markets there overall have slowed. Other factors contributed to the revision, such as production not keeping up with demand for the Note, an extremely popular model in Japan. But the high-profile scandal has weakened the brand appeal of the maker of the Leaf electric car, Infiniti luxury model and X-trail sports utility vehicle. Nissan said it expects to sell 5.5 million vehicles in this fiscal year. Earlier it predicted it would sell 5.6 million. The company sold nearly 5.8 million vehicles in the fiscal year that ended in March 2018. The automaker reduced its sales outlook by 0.2% for the fiscal year through March 2019 to 11.5 trillion yen ($103 billion), compared to its previous forecast. It was Nissan's second downgrade for its outlook following one in February that cited faltering sales in China and the U.S. At that time, Nissan also logged costs about 9.2 billion yen ($83 million) related to the alleged underreporting of Ghosn's compensation. Nissan has promised to strengthen its corporate governance to prevent a recurrence of what it says is serious wrongdoing by Ghosn. Ghosn was sent by Nissan's French alliance partner, Renault SA, to help turn the Japanese automaker around when it was near bankruptcy 20 years ago. The future of the alliance is one of many questions clouding Nissan's future following Ghosn's ouster since he was the main liaison for the alliance, which includes smaller Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors.