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Why this could be the perfect time for Apple to make a car play

While the automotive and technology worlds have been pouring billions into autonomous vehicles (AVs) and preparing to bring them to market soon as shared robo-taxis, Apple has mostly sat on the sidelines. Of course, Apple is the last company to ever make its intentions known, and the super-secret tech cult giant hasn't been totally out of the AV game based on the clues that have slipped out of its Cupertino, Calif., citadel over the past few years. Related: Apple self-driving cars are real — one was just in an accident News first broke in 2015 that it had assembled an automotive development team, in part by poaching high-profile talent from car companies, to work on a top-secret self-driving vehicle project code-named Titan. (Thank you very much, Nissan.) Apple also subsequently broke cover by making inquiries into using a Northern California AV testing facility and receiving a permit to test AVs on public roads in California. But then as the AV race started to heat up in the last few years, Apple reportedly began scaling back its car activities by downsizing team Titan. More recently, Apple's car project has shown signs of life with the hiring a high-level engineer away from Waymo and luring one Tesla's top engineers and a former employee back to Apple. It also inked a deal with Volkswagen to provide a technology platform and software to convert the automaker's new T6 Transporter vans into autonomous shuttles for employees at tech company's new campus. That is a far cry from giving rides to Wal-Mart shoppers, like Waymo is doing as part of its AV testing in Phoenix. But this could be the perfect time for Apple to enter the AV market now that ride-sharing is reaching critical mass and automakers and others are planning to deploy fleets of robo-taxis. Apple could easily establish a niche as a high-end ride-sharing service – and charge a premium – given its cult-like brand loyalty and design savvy. The growth of car subscription models could also play in Apple's favor since is already has many people hooked on paying for phones in monthly installments – and eager to upgrade when a new and better model becomes available. To achieve this, some believe Apple will fulfill co-founder and CEO Steve Job's dream of building a car. And as the world's first and only $1 trillion company it's sitting on a mountain of cash that certainly gives it the means. But other tech darlings like Tesla and Google have discovered how difficult it can be to build cars at scale.

Nissan previews Juke-R Nismo for Goodwood debut

Nissan has another trick up its sleeve. The teaser image above gives us our first peek at the Juke-R Nismo which the Japanese automaker is set to unleash at the Goodwood Festival of Speed later this month. The Japanese automaker hasn't provided much in the way of details at this early stage, but there's plenty we can infer from the nameplate. As you may recall, the original Nissan Juke-R hit the scene several years ago, packing the powertrain from the GT-R into the compact form of the Juke. The result was a monster of a little crossover that could run to 60 in three seconds flat and put most any performance-oriented SUV to shame. The addition of the Nismo name to the end would ostensibly suggest that Nissan is preparing an even more extreme version with all the muscle of the GT-R Nismo. That would give it 600 horsepower (instead of 545) and an even meaner disposition backed by even more extreme performance capabilities. Though the image is deliberately obscured, it clearly packs even more aggressive aero than the existing Juke-R. But Nissan isn't saying yet whether this will be a strict one-off or be offered for sale like its predecessor. "Using the latest technology, styling and running gear from NISMO products," Nissan promises a "supercar beating crossover". We'll have to hold on to find out more, but we won't have to wait long as it'll be unveiled at the British automotive celebration on June 25. THE NISSAN JUKE-R IS BACK – AND NOW WITH ADDED NISMO The original was the world's first supercar crossover. Now, Nissan is set to unleash its latest evolution... the Nissan Juke-R NISMO. Using the latest technology, styling and running gear from NISMO products, the supercar beating crossover will be unveiled and unleashed at Goodwood Festival of Speed (UK) on June 25th.

Nissan, Renault break up the Ghosn-style almighty chairmanship

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Japan's Nissan Motor and France's Renault said they would retool the world's top car-making alliance to put themselves on more equal footing, breaking up the all-powerful chairmanship previously wielded by ousted boss Carlos Ghosn. The removal of Ghosn, credited for rescuing Nissan from near-bankruptcy in 1999, had caused much uncertainty about the future of the alliance and some speculation the partnership could even unravel. The companies, together with junior ally Mitsubishi Motors, on Tuesday said the chairman of Renault would serve as the head of the alliance but — in a critical sign of the rebalancing — not as chairman of Nissan. "This is a very special day for the alliance," Renault SA's chairman, Jean-Dominique Senard, told reporters after a meeting at Nissan's Yokohama headquarters. He spoke to reporters along with Renault's chief executive, Thierry Bollore; Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa; and Osamu Masuko, CEO of the smaller Japanese alliance partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp. Those four executives will meet every month in Paris or Tokyo and oversee various projects, helping to make the companies' operations more efficient, they said. Nissan has said that Ghosn wielded too much power, creating a lack of oversight and corporate governance. It was not clear who would become Nissan's chairman, vacant since Ghosn was arrested in Japan in November. But the automakers gave no indication of any immediate change in their cross-shareholding agreement, one which has given smaller Renault SA more sway over Nissan. The alliance did not announce any changes in mutual stake holdings. The so-called Restated Alliance Master Agreement that has bound them together so far remains intact, they said. "We are fostering a new start of the alliance. There is nothing to do with the shareholdings and the cross-shareholdings that are still there and still in place," Renault Chairman Senard said. "Our future lies in the efficiency of this alliance," he told reporters at Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama. Senard also said he would not seek to be chairman of Nissan, but instead was a "natural candidate" to be vice-chairman. Former Nissan chairman Ghosn was released on a $9 million bail last week after spending more than 100 days in a Tokyo detention center.