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Nissan and Renault chief engineers meeting to revive joint projects

PARIS — Renault's engineering boss will meet his counterpart at Nissan in Japan this week, two sources close to Renault said, as the carmakers seek to revive projects crucial to an alliance left reeling by the Carlos Ghosn affair. The Franco-Japanese alliance is wrestling with the fallout of the ouster and arrest of Ghosn, the architect of the partnership who now says it is at risk of collapse. Analysts say that in order to turn investor sentiment around, the firms need to make good on cost-saving joint engineering projects that have slowed since Ghosn's departure. According to the two sources, Gilles Le Borgne, who was hired on Jan. 6 from rival automaker PSA, will meet Nissan's Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, the Nissan executive in charge of delivering the joint engineering projects. Renault did not respond to a request for comment on Le Borgne's meetings. Renault-Nissan's cost-saving alliance is vital to both companies as the car industry battles a slowdown and huge investments in cleaner vehicles and automated driving. "The alliance has taken a hit, but the alliance engineering team is still there," said a third source, who is close to the alliance. "You cannot, from one day to the next, stop something that's been embedded so deeply." Japanese prosecutors arrested Ghosn — who was at the time the head of the carmakers' alliance -- in November 2018 and accused him of financial misconduct. Ghosn slipped out of Japan and fled at the end of December to Lebanon. He says the charges were fabricated to force him out of an alliance in which the Japanese side no longer trusted its French partners. Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard has said both sides are determined to make the partnership succeed, with the joint projects a major focus. Those projects will be on the agenda when the board of the alliance, which also includes Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi <7211.T>, holds a regular meeting in Japan on Jan. 30. One area of focus will be hybrid power systems, a field where, analysts say, the alliance has not effectively pooled its research and development efforts. Each of the three members of the alliance has developed their own systems. "That's been among the sources of the friction," said the third source close to the alliance.

Lebanon imposes travel ban on ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn

BEIRUT — A Lebanese prosecutor imposed a travel ban on former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn on Thursday, judicial sources said, after he was questioned over an Interpol warrant issued by Japan seeking his arrest on financial misconduct charges. Ghosn fled Japan to Lebanon, his childhood home, last month as he was awaiting trial on charges of under-reporting earnings, breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds, all of which he denies. The Lebanese judicial authorities also asked Japan for its file on Ghosn, including the charges against him, and will not question him again until the information is received, one of the sources said. Carlos Abou Jaoude, a Beirut-based lawyer for Ghosn, told Lebanese broadcaster MTV Ghosn was "very comfortable" with the proceedings in Beirut. "He is very comfortable with the path," Jaoude said, adding that Ghosn was also comfortable himself "especially after what he went through". The decision issued by the prosecutor, Judge Ghassan Ouiedat, requires Ghosn to keep the authorities informed of his place of residence, the judicial sources said. Ghosn would surrender his French passport to the Lebanese authorities later on Thursday, one of the sources said after the questioning, which took place at Beirut's Justice Palace, the headquarters of the judiciary. The Brazilian-born Ghosn said on Wednesday he had escaped to Lebanon to clear his name and was ready to stand trial anywhere he could get a fair hearing. Ghosn said he was ready to stay for a long time in Lebanon, which does not allow the extradition of its nationals, and a source close to the 65-year-old has said his legal team is pushing for him to be tried in the country. In addition to the Interpol warrant, Ghosn was also questioned over a formal legal complaint filed against him by a group of Lebanese lawyers who accuse him of "normalization" with Israel over a visit he made there in 2008. The prosecutor released him with the same condition, that he keep the authorities aware of his place of residence, the sources said. There was no immediate statement from the prosecutor's office. In his comments to MTV, Ghosn's lawyer Jaoude said a statement would be issued by Ghosn's team later. Ghosn said on Wednesday he had made the trip as a French citizen and an executive of Renault to sign a contract with a state-backed Israeli firm to sell electric vehicles, and had been obliged to go because the board had requested it.

Nissan dealer: 2016 Leaf will have 110-mile battery option

Leave it to a local dealer in Indiana to spill the beans about the beans about the changes to the upcoming 2016 Nissan Leaf. Maybe. There's a dealer near Indianapolis called Andy Mohr Avon Nissan near Indianapolis and its website says that the new Leaf will come with two battery packs. The dealer says that the 2016 Leaf will come with two different battery trim levels. You can choose a car with the same pack as the 2015 Leaf has (and, thus, still get 84 miles of official range) or you can opt for the higher trim level, which will give you, "as much as 25 percent increased capacity, delivering a driving range of as much as 110 miles." Now, let's take all of this with some grains of salt and combine it with previous rumors. First, this does not seem to be any sort of information about a second-gen Leaf. We've heard plenty of rumors that the 2016 Leaf will have a 30-kWh battery pack that can go over 100 miles, but this is sort of a version 1.5 Leaf, since this longer range will be available in an updated current model and not yet the next-gen model. Nissan's Paige Presley, from Nissan's EV and technology communications, said simply that she, "can't comment on future products." We spoke with Joe Kline, the internet manager at Andy Mohr Avon Nissan, and he said that it was likely that the information about the two battery packs came directly from Nissan but he wasn't 100 percent sure. Kline said that the Andy Morh Avon Nissan dealership probably sold around 10 Leafs in the past year, mostly because the infrastructure isn't as built out as it could be in central Indiana. "They're not quite up to par with the charging stations around here," he said. With the longer-range version, the dealership's website says, "the new Leaf can find a home in even more garages." Related Video: Featured Gallery 2015 Nissan Leaf View 12 Photos News Source: Andy Mohr Avon Nissan via Green Car Reports Green Rumormill Nissan Electric