2013 Nissan Cube 1.8 S on 2040-cars

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Mercedes, Nissan and VW slammed by China's CCTV

Several automakers in China, including joint ventures with Nissan, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, are in hot water because their dealers are allegedly overcharging customers for repairs. China Central Television, the country's state broadcaster, leveled the claims during its annual Consumer Day expose. CCTV runs these reports each year on March 15 and often takes aim at foreign companies operating within China. This year the focus fell on automakers, according to the Financial Times, and no domestic car companies were targeted. The network also accused dealers of overselling parts, and it took aim at Jaguar Land Rover specifically for problems surrounding transmission repairs, according to Reuters. The yearly stories are often criticized for focusing on outside businesses. "It panders to a certain type of nationalism as it tends to target foreign companies and rarely touches large state groups or monopolies," Qiao Mu, a journalism professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said to the Financial Times. Foreign automakers seem to face tighter scrutiny when doing business in China than their domestic counterparts, in general. The government there investigated several luxury brands, including Audi and BMW, last year for how they supplied spare parts and whether the components were overpriced. Some incurred fines, and Lexus decided to lower its prices. Volkswagen also experienced protests when owners felt the company wasn't handling a recall properly. The CCTV report also comes as many auto dealers in China are feeling a pinch due to high mandated sales targets from automakers. The situation was so dire in early 2015 several brands cut back sales targets and in some cases even paid the sellers to offset poor profits. News Source: Financial Times - sub. req., ReutersImage Credit: Andy Wong / AP Photo Government/Legal Mercedes-Benz Nissan Volkswagen Car Dealers Auto Repair Maintenance jaguar land rover

Ferrari SUV and Aston Martin in Formula E? | Autoblog Podcast #529

This week, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Green Editor John Beltz Snyder. They discuss Ferrari's SUV plans as well as Aston Martin's Formula E consideration. They also talk about cars we've driven including the Chevy Colorado ZR2, a Nissan Rogue ProPilot prototype and a Ford Shelby GT350. This week's podcast also features a car you don't need a license to drive. Autoblog Podcast #529 Your browser does not support the audio element. Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Ferrari SUV FCA keeping Jeep Aston Martin mulls Formula E Cars in the office: Ford Shelby GT350, Chevrolet Colorado ZR2, Nissan Rogue with ProPilot Assist The List: Drive a car that requires no license 3 Big Questions: Ferrari SUV or Lamborghini SUV? Chevy Colorado ZR2 or Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro? Ford Shelby GT350 with or without Performance Package? Spend my money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Green Podcasts Aston Martin Chevrolet Ferrari Ford Jeep Lamborghini Nissan SUV Electric Performance Videos Formula E shelby nissan propilot

Nissan applies for 'R-Hybrid' trademark, but what is it for?

Patent and trademark filings are sort of like tasseography for those of us in the auto industry. If you know where and how to look at something, there's a lot to be figured out. Take this trademark filing from Nissan - it's similar to the Pure Drive badge found on a Versa or Sentra, but the bottom half sports the phrase "R-Hybrid." This wouldn't be remarkable if the "R" in R-Hybrid weren't the same style as the "R" in the Nissan GT-R's badge, right down to the serifs.
While it's easy to see this as grasping at straws, it makes a fair degree of sense. The R35 GT-R may be a dominant performance machine, but it's been around since 2008, which is donkey years in the automotive industry. And based on the recent crop of hybridized hypercars and racecars, a hybrid GT-R doesn't seem like such a stretch.
As Car And Driver points out, figuring out that the GT-R will go hybrid isn't hard - figuring out when it will arrive, is. The buff book rightly points out that a new GT-R isn't expected until 2017, but that designing and trademarking a badge four years ahead of time is a bit odd. Car and Driver speculates that we could see a mildly hybridized R35, although the chances do seem remarkably low. Head over to C/D for a more thorough rundown on why this just might be a GT-R badge, including comparisons with other R-badged Nissans.