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Nissan Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo looks awesome in red

As we reported the other day, Nissan has a whole raft of concepts it's bringing to the Tokyo Motor Show this year, but the Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo is perhaps the most striking. Or at the most least colorful. Now if you're thinking that we've already seen Nissan's concept for the popular racing sim, you're absolutely right. It debuted last summer ahead of the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed. But sinister as it looked in gray, this time it's been done up in bright red – Fire Knight red – according to the automaker. And as you can see for yourself in the gallery above, it looks awesome. Of course the Teatro for Dayz is still the main novelty here. Envisioned as a theater on wheels (hence the name), the Teatro packs the company's electric powertrain technology that we've already come to know from the Leaf. The interior is all smooth and white, serving as a sort of blank canvas of sorts – ostensibly allowing for a broad range of personalization. The minicar could point the way towards a successor to the equally quirky Cube that has, in its present iteration, been on the market since 2008. Or it could just be a showpiece for its home-market show, which only comes around every other year. Either way, you can check it out in the second image gallery. While you're doing that, we'll be staring at that red supercar concept for a while longer, and wondering how closely it might presage the next-generation GT-R. Nissan to show Teatro for Dayz, Gripz, Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo and more in Tokyo YOKOHAMA, Japan – Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today released an overview of its exhibit at the 44th Tokyo Motor Show, which will be held at Tokyo Big Sight and open to the public from October 30 through November 8. Among the exhibits will be Teatro for Dayz, an innovative concept that signals a new direction in mobile technology. Designed especially for the digital native generation, this vision of near-future vehicles departs from convention and marks a shift in perception.

Road & Track names its 2013 Performance Car of the Year

Road & Track recently staged its first annual Performance Car of the Year test, pitting 13 new and updated performance cars against each other on track, then graduating the top six to a road test before picking a winner. Additionally, the magazine staff picked the best automobiles of the year in eight categories.
But first, let's cover the PCotY segment. Here's the list of cars brought to the comparison test: Audi R8 V10 Plus; BMW 435i; BMW M6 Competition Package; Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51; Ferrari F12 Berlinetta; Ford Fiesta ST; Jaguar F-Type V8 S; Jaguar XFR-S; Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S-Model Wagon; Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series; Mini John Cooper Works GP; Nissan GT-R Track Edition; and Porsche Cayman S.
To find out the results of the comparison, head over to Road & Track's website or check the press release below, where you'll also find the magazine's top-rated vehicles in eight categories. Want more? Head over to the 2013 PCotY hub. But before you do that, take a stab at guessing the winner of PCotY (we'll give you one hint: it isn't a Porsche).

Ghosn hid part of Nissan salary, fearing he'd be forced out of Renault, exec testifies

TOKYO — Carlos Ghosn hid part of his compensation at Nissan because he feared the French government would force him out of Renault if it discovered how much he earned, an executive at the Japanese carmaker told a Tokyo court on Thursday. Hari Nada, a former Nissan vice president in charge of legal affairs, has been described as organizer of a putsch against Ghosn and is a key whistleblower in the case brought by Japanese prosecutors against the former Nissan and Renault boss, who was arrested in 2018. Nada was testifying at the trial of former Nissan executive Greg Kelly, who is charged with helping Ghosn hide 9.3 billion yen ($89 million) in compensation over eight years through deferred payments after Japan introduced new rules requiring executives to disclose payments above 1 billion yen. Kelly has pleaded not guilty. He has been on bail in Japan since his release from jail in 2018 and is facing trial without Ghosn because his co-accused fled to Lebanon in December 2019. Ghosn, who was one of the world's most prominent auto bosses as head of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, has denied wrongdoing. He says he is the victim of a boardroom coup by former Nissan colleagues worried he would push through a merger between Nissan and Renault, its largest shareholder. Nada told the court that Ghosn had concealed his true compensation because he feared the repercussions in France. He said Kelly had given him this information. "He didn't want to be fired. If he paid himself what he wanted and that was disclosed, the French state would have felt obliged to fire him," said Nada, who agreed to cooperate with Japanese prosecutors in return for immunity from prosecution. France's economy ministry declined to comment. Nada was demoted following Ghosn's arrest. Ghosn, who is also charged with enriching himself through $5 million in payments to a Middle East car dealership, and for a breach of trust for temporarily transferring personal financial losses to his employer's books, also denies any wrongdoing. A former Nissan chief operating officer offered another perspective on Tuesday, outlining the pains company officials took to hide GhosnÂ’s pay, because they worried about his quitting for a rival. “Carlos Ghosn is a world-class business leader and CEO,” said Toshiyuki Shiga, testifying at the trial of his former colleague Greg Kelly, charged with under-reporting GhosnÂ’s compensation.