on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Nissan and Carlos Ghosn settle SEC claims over undisclosed compensation

WASHINGTON — Nissan and its former Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn have agreed to settle claims from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over false financial disclosures related to Ghosn's compensation, an SEC statement said on Monday. Nissan will pay $15 million, while Ghosn agreed to a $1 million civil penalty and a 10-year ban from serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded U.S. company, the SEC statement said. Ghosn was arrested in Japan and fired by Nissan last year. He is awaiting trial in Tokyo on financial misconduct charges that he denies. Former Nissan human resources official Gregory Kelly agreed to a $100,000 penalty and a five-year officer and director ban. Nissan, Ghosn, and Kelly settled without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations and findings. The SEC said in total Nissan in its financial disclosures omitted more than $140 million to be paid to Ghosn in retirement — a sum that ultimately was not paid. The SEC also accused Ghosn in a suit filed in New York that he engaged in a scheme to conceal more than $90 million of compensation. That suit is being settled as part of the agreement announced Monday. Nissan confirmed it had settled the allegations and said it "is firmly committed to continuing to further cultivate robust corporate governance." Nissan provided significant cooperation to the SEC, the agency said. The company now has a new governance structure with three statutory committees — audit, compensation and nomination — and has amended its securities reports for all relevant years. The SEC said beginning in 2004 Nissan's board delegated to Ghosn the authority to set individual director and executive compensation levels, including his own. The SEC said "Ghosn and his subordinates, including Kelly, crafted various ways to structure payment of the undisclosed compensation after Ghosn's retirement, such as entering into secret contracts, backdating letters to grant Ghosn interests in Nissan's Long Term Incentive Plan, and changing the calculation of Ghosn's pension allowance to provide more than $50 million in additional benefits." "Investors are entitled to know how, and how much, a company compensates its top executives. Ghosn and Kelly went to great lengths to conceal this information from investors and the market," said Stephanie Avakian, co-director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement.

Mitsubishi teases world premiere of new PHEV concept ahead of Geneva

It was a little disappointing to find out that Mitsubishi's "return of a legend" for the 2015 Chicago Auto Show would simply be the North American debut of the GC-PHEV concept. The crossover has a chunky, rugged design that's somewhat attractive, but it's not exactly new to the motoring world. Apparently, the Japanese brand understands the desire to see what's next because the company is now teasing the world premiere of a concept for the 2015 Geneva Motor Show in March. Mitsubishi promises that the still-unnamed concept "is a 'declaration of intent'" for the company's future. The only real hints that the brand drops about the vehicle is that it features a next-gen, two-wheel-drive plug-in hybrid powertrain and is a crossover. Judging from Mitsubishi's two teaser images, the design appears to be cribbing a lot from the brand's own XR-PHEV concept. Up front, the angular nose and headlight design look almost identical, and the pointed rear with integrated taillights seems basically the same, as well. Hopefully, the Japanese brand has something clever going on here and isn't just slightly tweaking a previous design. MITSUBISHI MOTORS AT GENEVA MOTORSHOW 2015 CONCEPT CAR WORLD PREMIERE – A DECLARATION OF INTENT 27/01/15 TOKYO - "A future-oriented attitude: powerful, fast and dynamic". This is the theme of the 85th International Geneva Motor Show official poster in perfect synergy with Mitsubishi Motors Corporation's (MMC's) confident presence this year; from a new dramatic booth design to the sharpness of an all-new concept car. A world premiere in Geneva, the striking concept car is a 'declaration of intent' for MMC's future directions -a powerful embodiment of its next generation 2WD plug-in hybrid electric ("PHEV") technology as well as its bold design renaissance, all contained in Mitsubishi Motors' favorite format of the SUV crossover. The all new Mitsubishi Motors concept - a smart combination of engineering, fluency with a high-output electric motor, low environmental impact, dynamic agility and athletic design. -ENDS -

Renault to propose joint holding company with Nissan, Nikkei reports

TOKYO — Renault SA will propose to Nissan Motor Co a plan to create a joint holding company that would give both firms equal footing as the French automaker seeks further integration with its Japanese partner, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Friday. Under the proposal, both firms would nominate a nearly equal number of directors to the new company in which ordinary shares in both Nissan and Renault would be transferred on a balanced basis, the newspaper said, without citing sources. This would effectively dilute the stake held by the French government in Renault to around 7-8 percent, from its current 15 percent, it added. The new company would be headquartered in a third country, such as Singapore. Renault plans to make the proposal to Nissan soon, the Nikkei said, having modified an earlier merger idea that Nissan rejected on April 12. Nissan declined to comment on the issue. The Financial Times newspaper reported that both Nissan and the Japanese government have refused to engage in merger talks with Renault. The report of the proposal comes as the outlook for the alliance — one of the world's top automaking partnerships — has clouded since the arrest in November of its main architect, Carlos Ghosn, for suspected financial misconduct. It also comes as Nissan's financial performance struggles following years of focusing on volume sales over building its brand, particularly in the United States, its biggest market. Nissan slashes its forecast This week, the Japanese automaker slashed its profit forecast for the year just ended to its lowest in nearly a decade, citing weakness in its U.S. operations. Renault for years has been vying for a closer merger with Nissan, which it rescued from the brink of bankruptcy two decades ago. Ghosn had been working to achieve a deeper integration before his arrest on financial misconduct charges in November last year. While the automakers have been consolidating many of their operations over the past decade, including procurement and production, many executives at Nissan have opposed an all-out merger with Renault. Instead, Nissan has argued for a more equal footing with Renault, which holds a 43 percent stake in its bigger partner. Nissan holds a 15 percent stake in Renault. It was unclear whether Renault would hold the casting vote in major decisions at the new company, as it did in Renault-Nissan B.V., a strategic management company jointly held by both companies that oversaw operations for the partnership.