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Nissan's Carlos Ghosn offers to wear electronic ankle tag if released

TOKYO — Ousted Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn has offered to wear an electronic ankle tag and hire guards to monitor him in an unusual bid to secure his release on bail after two months of harsh detention in Japan for alleged financial crimes. Ghosn is also willing to remain in Tokyo, where he has leased an apartment, and post stock he owns in Nissan as collateral, his spokeswoman said. A new bail hearing is set for Monday after an earlier request was denied due partly to concerns the French executive was a flight risk. His release would allow Ghosn to meet more frequently with his lawyers and defend himself before the board of Renault, where he remains chairman and CEO, amid calls for his removal and potential moves to restructure the Nissan tie-up. Ghosn denies any wrongdoing as he awaits trial on charges of financial misconduct. "I will attend my trial not only because I am legally obligated to do so, but because I am eager to finally have the opportunity to defend myself," Ghosn said in a statement on Sunday. "I am not guilty of the charges against me, and I look forward to defending my reputation in the courtroom." Meanwhile, Ghosn's wife, Carole Ghosn, has written to French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss her husband's situation, her public relations representative said. The representative, Devon Spurgeon, confirmed a report in French paper Journal du Dimanche that a letter had been sent to Macron this month, but declined to provide details. France wants a full merger As Ghosn's arrest on Nov. 19 continued to cloud the outlook for Nissan's three-way alliance with France's Renault and Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan said it was not the time to discuss revising the partners' capital ties. Ghosn, who spearheaded Nissan's turnaround two decades ago, had pushed for a deeper tie-up between Nissan and Renault, including possibly a full merger by 2020, despite strong reservations at the Japanese firm. "We are not at the stage for such discussions," Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa told reporters on Monday. Saikawa said he had not heard directly about a reported proposal by the French government to integrate the Japanese carmaker's management with Renault. The Nikkei newspaper reported on Sunday that a French government delegation had informed Tokyo that it would seek an integration of Renault and Nissan, most likely under the umbrella of a single holding company. "Since I have not heard this directly, I cannot comment," Saikawa told reporters.

Renault-Nissan rejig how they manage Daimler partnership, sources say

PARIS — The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance is set to scrap a role overseeing ties with Daimler in favor of individual relations with the German group, three sources told Reuters, as they try to better manage a partnership that has not met initial hopes. The shift comes as alliance-level executive Jacques Verdonck, who was in charge of the cooperation with Daimler, retires at the end of the month, the sources familiar with the matter said. France's Renault will instead rely on its head of partnerships, Sandra Gomez, while Nissan will do the same with Catherine Perez. Mitsubishi will also have a person in charge of partnerships, the sources said, adding the bilateral approach was in line with the new "leader-follower" strategy of the alliance. That involves leaning on the strengths of each carmaker in certain areas. Renault and Daimler declined to comment, while Nissan could not immediately be reached for comment. The plan marks another shift following the end of the Carlos Ghosn era at the alliance. The architect of the Franco-Japanese partnership, who also extended the collaboration to Daimler, was arrested on financial misconduct charges in Japan in late 2018, before fleeing to Lebanon in 2019. He denies any wrongdoing. His exit strained already difficult relations between Nissan and Renault, which are now working to get back on track with cost-saving joint production projects among other steps. The partnership with Daimler - which owns high-end brand Mercedes-Benz, contrasting with the more accessible models produced by the others - has also looked in danger of losing steam. Nissan and Renault, both hit by losses, recently sold down their stakes in the German group. Collaborations on Renault's compact Twingo car and Daimler's Smart model are set to end, and some targets for industrial cooperation have been downgraded over the years. But Daimler still has a factory in Mexico with Nissan, and has been exploring the possibility of jointly developing at least one large van model with Renault. An industry shift towards electric vehicles could yet yield other opportunities, one of the sources said. "The collaboration with Daimler is at present made up of Renault-Daimler projects, Nissan-Daimler ones and some between the three," another of the sources said, with yet another saying that the changes reflected a more pragmatic approach.

This Leaf glows in the dark

Pessimists may say that it's weird to have an all-electric vehicle look like it's radioactive. But when it comes to an effort by Nissan Europe to publicize the idea of using solar energy to power one's house or car, that'd be missing the point. Either way, the car looks pretty cool. Nissan is looking to get more people to go solar across the pond, and has given an all-electric Leaf a special glow coating to get the point across. Nissan worked with inventor Hamish Scott to create a special coating that allows the Leaf's paint job to absorb enough sunlight to give off a glow for as long as 10 hours of darkness. Go up to the Nordic countries, and that's still not long enough to get through a winter's night, but for most of the Continent, that'd certainly be sufficient. Better yet, the coating, which catches ultraviolet energy, is fully organic, though it'd take some smart science people to figure out how that's the case. But the coating is said to last a quarter century, which is a little longer than Leaf batteries are expected to last. Check out Nissan's press release below and take a look at the 55-second video from Nissan UK. The manufacturer worked with inventor, Hamish Scott, creator of STARPATH, which is a spray-applied coating that absorbs UV energy during the day so that it glows for between eight and 10 hours when the sun goes down. While glowing car paint is already available, as are glow-in-the-dark car wraps, the bespoke, ultraviolet-energized paint created especially for Nissan is unique thanks to its secret formula made up of entirely organic materials. It contains a very rare natural earth product called Strontium Aluminate, which is solid, odorless and chemically and biologically inert. Feb. 12, 2015 Nissan in Europe is first car maker to apply glow-in-the-dark car paint EV pioneer Nissan is first manufacturer to partner with similarly innovative inventor to create paint that uses UV energy absorbed during daylight to glow at night Increasing numbers of LEAF owners expanding sustainability efforts by installing solar panels to their homes ROLLE, Switzerland – Nissan in Europe has become the first manufacturer to apply glow-in-the-dark car paint to showcase how its market-leading, all-electric LEAF is helping more and more people convert to solar energy at home Various third-party companies have applied non-organic glow-in-the-dark paint to vehicles before, but Nissan is the first car maker to directly apply such technology.