2001 Nissan Maxima Gle Sedan 4-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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Renault's planned luxury sub-brand gets reconsidered

Renault believes there's enough Alpine love to restart that brand with its own model almost immediately. The launch of the Initiale Paris luxury brand it's been mulling, on the other hand, will be more restrained: a report in Autocar says that instead of launching with a first model based on the Mercedes E-Class architecture, Renault is going to introduce an Initiale Paris trim line on the new Clio and Espace. More accurately, that should be 're-introduce and aggressively market,' since Renault has used an Initiale Paris trim over the years since it introduced the concept car (pictured) in 1995, even as recently as the current-generation Laguna Coupe.
Other models will be added after the Clio and Espace, and when Renault can assess what kind of future the trim has, it will decide on the launch of a subsidiary brand. Company CEO Carlos Tavares said we shouldn't hang around waiting for a decision, though, declaring that establishing such a brand - if it even comes to that - "will be a job for at least my successor to worry about, not me."

FCA-Renault revival may hinge on willingness to cut Nissan stake

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Renault are looking for ways to resuscitate their collapsed merger plan and secure the approval of the French carmaker's alliance partner Nissan, according to several sources close to the companies. Nissan is poised to urge Renault to significantly reduce its 43.4% stake in the Japanese company in return for supporting a FCA-Renault tie-up, two people with knowledge of its thinking also told Reuters. It is still far from clear whether any concerted effort to revive the complex and politically fraught deal can succeed. FCA Chairman John Elkann abruptly withdrew his $35 billion merger offer in the early hours of June 6 after the French government, Renault's biggest shareholder, blocked a vote by its board and demanded more time to win Nissan's backing. Nissan representatives had said they would abstain. The failure, which FCA and Renault blamed squarely on the French government, deprived both companies of an opportunity to create the world's third-biggest carmaker with 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion) in promised annual synergies. It also shone a harsh light on Renault's relations with Nissan, which have gone from frayed to fried since the November arrest of former alliance Chairman Carlos Ghosn, now awaiting trial in Japan on financial misconduct charges he denies. REVIVAL TALKS Italian-American FCA — whose brand stable encompasses Fiat runabouts, Jeep SUVs, RAM pickups, Alfa Romeo luxury cars and Maserati sports cars — has so far turned a deaf ear to suggestions by French officials that its merger proposal could be revisited. But since the breakdown, Elkann and his French counterpart Jean-Dominique Senard have had talks about reviving the plan that left the Renault chairman and his Chief Executive Thierry Bollore upbeat about that prospect, three alliance sources said. Renault and a spokesman for FCA declined to comment. One of Elkann's senior advisors on the Renault merger bid, Toby Myerson, was expected at Nissan headquarters in Yokohama on Monday for exploratory discussions with top management, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa is likely to attend. Myerson did not respond to a message from Reuters seeking comment. The meeting comes amid mounting strains that may preclude compromise, after Senard warned Saikawa that Renault was prepared to block key Nissan governance reforms in a dispute over board committees.

Pretty scenery alert: Nissan Leaf drives up a volcano on Maui

Gravity taketh away but gravity giveth back, Nissan is trying to teach all of us. The Japanese automaker has posted a two-minute video about Maui resident Neil Wagner using his Nissan Leaf to catch the legendary sunrise over the volcano in Haleakala National Park. After climbing the more-than-10,000-foot elevation, the Leaf is shown having lost about 84 percent of its usable battery capacity. The finer point, though, is that electric vehicles have a regenerative braking system, meaning that the downhill ride and all of its switchbacks actually replenish battery capacity. Of course, the video didn't show exactly how much of that capacity was replenished, but the point is well-made, and with really cool scenery. Sales for the Leaf have already been strong this year. Through the first three months of the year, Nissan boosted sales 46 percent from 2013 numbers up to 5,184 units. This is after more than doubling sales last year to 22,610 units. And, for anyone curious, there are six publicly-accessible plug-in vehicle charging stations in Kahului and another eight in Lahaina, two of Maui's largest cities, according to the US Department of Energy. We're pretty sure that Mr. Wagner already knows that but we're going to take notes in case we need to make the sunrise drive one day. For now, we're going to check out Nissan's two-minute video below one more time. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.