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Mitsubishi slashes annual profit forecast on slowing car sales

TOKYO — Mitsubishi Motors on Wednesday cut its full-year profit outlook by 67% as it expects sluggish demand in North America and China will continue, while a strong yen and research and development costs will also hurt the automaker's bottom line. Japan's sixth-largest automaker now expects operating profit to come in at 30.0 billion yen in the year to March, down from a previous forecast for 90.0 billion yen. The new outlook would be Mitsubishi's lowest profit since the year ended March 2017. The downgrade comes after Mitsubishi, in which Nissan holds a controlling stake, reported a 78% plunge in operating profit during the July-September quarter to 6.3 billion yen, lower than a mean forecast for 16.26 billion yen from analysts polled by Refinitiv. It joins a growing number of Japanese automakers which are bracing for lower profitability. Earlier on Wednesday, Subaru lowered its annual profit forecast due to a stronger yen and a cut in domestic output due to a major typhoon last month. Mazda and Suzuki have also cut their respective outlooks within the past month due to slowing demand for their cars. Earnings/Financials Mitsubishi

Carlos Ghosn was on verge of release — so prosecutors file new allegation

TOKYO — Japanese prosecutors added a new allegation of breach of trust against Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn on Friday, dashing his hopes for posting bail quickly. Ghosn and another former Nissan executive, Greg Kelly, were arrested Nov. 19 and charged with underreporting Ghosn's income by about 5 billion yen ($44 million) in 2011-2015. They also face the prospect of more charges of underreporting Ghosn's income for other years by nearly 10 billion ($80 million) in total. The breach of trust allegations were filed a day after a court rejected prosecutors' request for a longer detention of both men. The new allegation only applies to Ghosn, and Kelly could still be bailed out. A request for bail by Kelly's lawyer is pending court approval, according to the Tokyo District Court, but his release will have to wait until next week since the request was still in process after office hours Friday. Prosecutors in a statement Friday alleged that Ghosn in 2008 transferred a private investment loss worth more than 1.8 billion yen ($16 million) to Nissan by manipulating an unspecified "swap" contract. Ghosn also profited by having the company transfer a total of $14.7 million to another company to benefit himself and that company's owner, who helped in the contract manipulation, prosecutors said. Shin Kukimoto, deputy chief prosecutor at the Tokyo District Prosecutors Office, refuse to say if the two transactions were related or how Ghosn illegally profited. He also declined to identify the collaborator or whether the transactions were made overseas. Ghosn and Kelly are only charged with underreporting Ghosn's pay over five years, in violation of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. They have not been formally charged with an additional allegation of underreporting another 4 billion yen ($36 million) for 2016-2018, for which their first 10-day detention was to expire Thursday. Prosecutors have been criticized for separating the allegations as a tactic to detain Ghosn and Kelly longer. They say Ghosn and Kelly are flight risks. The maximum penalty for violating the financial act is up to 10 years in prison, a 10 million yen ($89,000) fine, or both. Breach of trust also carries a similar maximum penalty. The conviction rate in Japan is more than 99 percent for any crime. Ghosn was sent by Renault in 1999 to turn around Nissan, then on the verge of bankruptcy, and he led its rise to become the world's second-largest automaker.

NHTSA begins inquiry into Mitsubishi fuel economy

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants to make sure Mitsubishi doesn't falsify fuel economy ratings in the US like the company does in Japan. "We've requested information from Mitsubishi about this issue," a NHTSA spokesperson told Reuters. The person didn't provide details about the specific models the regulator wanted to know more about. At this time, there's no evidence of fuel economy inaccuracies for any North American models. The affected vehicles in Japan so far are 625,000 small kei-class cars, including the Mitsubishi eK, eK Space, Nissan Dayz, and Dayz Roox, which Mitsu produces for Nissan. However, Japanese regulators are taking a closer look at other models and gave the company a week to hand over test data. A newspaper there claims Mitsubishi allegedly used "non-Japanese test methodology" on the RVR, Outlander, Pajero, and Minicab MiEV. NHTSA's look into Mitsubishi comes at the same time the Department of Justice is scrutinizing Daimler for possible emissions anomalies. "Daimler will consequently investigate possible indications of irregularities and of course take all necessary action," the German automaker said in a statement. The company asserts the DOJ's inquiry is unrelated to a lawsuit from owners, which alleges the BlueTec emissions control system is designed to turn off at low temperatures. Related Video: