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Japan calls Ghosn's escape inexcusable and vows tighter immigration checks

TOKYO — Japan's justice minister on Sunday called the flight of former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn as he awaited trial on financial misconduct charges inexcusable and vowed to beef up immigration checks. Justice Minister Masako Mori said she had ordered an investigation after Ghosn issued a statement a few days ago saying he was in Lebanon. She said there were no records of Ghosn's departure from Tokyo. She said his bail has been revoked, and Interpol had issued a wanted notice. Departure checks needed to be strengthened to prevent a recurrence, Mori said. While expressing deep regret over what had happened, Mori stopped short of outlining any specific action Japan might take to get Ghosn back. Japan does not have an extradition treaty with Lebanon. “Our nationÂ’s criminal justice system protects the basic human rights of an individual and properly carries out appropriate procedures to disclose the truth of various cases, and the flight of a suspect while out on bail is never justified,” she said in a statement. MoriÂ’s statement was the first public comment by a Japanese government official after the stunning escape of Ghosn, once a superstar of the auto industry. Tokyo prosecutors issued a similar statement Sunday. They had opposed Ghosn's release on bail, arguing he was a flight risk. First arrested in November 2018, Ghosn was out on bail over the last several months, and more recently had moved into a home in an upscale part of Tokyo. He has repeatedly said he was innocent. His statement from Beirut said he was escaping injustice. Japan's justice system has come under fire from human rights advocates for its long detentions, the reliance on confessions and prolonged trials. The conviction rate is higher than 99%. Even if Ghosn had been found innocent, the prosecutors could have appealed, and the appeals process could have lasted years. Ghosn's trial was not expected to start until April at the earliest. During that time, he had been prohibited from seeing his wife, and was only allowed a couple of video calls in the presence of a lawyer. Ghosn had been charged with underreporting his future compensation and breach of trust in diverting Nissan money for his personal gain. Although the details of his escape are not yet clear, Turkish airline company MNG Jet has said two of its planes were used illegally, first flying him from Osaka, Japan, to Istanbul, and then on to Beirut, where he arrived Monday and has not been seen since.

Question of the Day: Most heinous act of badge engineering?

Badge engineering, in which one company slaps its emblems on another company's product and sells it, has a long history in the automotive industry. When Sears wanted to sell cars, a deal was made with Kaiser-Frazer and the Sears Allstate was born. Iranians wanted new cars in the 1960s, and the Rootes Group was happy to offer Hillman Hunters for sale as Iran Khodro Paykans. Sometimes, though, certain badge-engineered vehicles made sense only in the 26th hour of negotiations between companies. The Suzuki Equator, say, which was a puzzling rebadge job of the Nissan Frontier. How did that happen? My personal favorite what-the-heck-were-they-thinking example of badge engineering is the 1971-1973 Plymouth Cricket. Chrysler Europe, through its ownership of the Rootes Group, was able to ship over Hillman Avanger subcompacts for sale in the US market. This would have made sense... if Chrysler hadn't already been selling rebadged Mitsubishi Colt Galants (as Dodge Colts) and Simca 1100s as (Simca 1204s) in its American showrooms. Few bought the Cricket, despite its cheery ad campaign. So, what's the badge-engineered car you find most confounding? Chrysler Dodge Automakers Mitsubishi Nissan Suzuki Automotive History question of the day badge engineering question

Mitsubishi readying Outlander refresh

Mitsubishi has a big secret to keep under wraps when it comes to the looks of its refreshed Outlander crossover. Our spy shooters recently caught it testing in Germany, and the CUV had enough buckles, straps and snaps covering up the front end for the vehicle to fit in at an S&M party for cars. The rear was hidden just as thoroughly, too.
Given the areas that Mitsubishi's engineers are obscuring, it seems safe to assume that the Outlander is getting a heavily revised front end with redesigns for the grille, front bumper and possibly hood. The lights might be reshaped too, judging from these photos. The changes are just as hard to spot at the rear, but you can make out the shape of the taillights. They appear more rectangular than the current model, and the bumper looks more angular, as well.
This is likely our first glimpse of the of the major restyle for the Outlander that Mitsubishi execs told Autoblog about in July. The interior is also getting an update to improve interior material quality, we were told. The revisions are supposed to coincide with the launch of the PHEV model in the US at roughly the same time.