Nissan Quest on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Facts point to legal violations by Carlos Ghosn, says Nissan external review

YOKOHAMA, Japan — An external committee reviewing governance at Nissan Motor Co said on Wednesday there were enough facts to suspect violations of laws and the private use of company funds by ousted chairman Carlos Ghosn. Following a three-month audit of Nissan's governance after a scandal that shook the global auto industry, the committee put the blame squarely on what it called Ghosn's concentration of power. It also acknowledged Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa's role in Ghosn's salary arrangement at the heart of the scandal. Twenty years to the day since French automaker Renault SA agreed to rescue Nissan, the committee described a corporate culture at Nissan "in which no one can make any objections to Mr. Ghosn," who was "in a way deified within Nissan as a savior who had redeemed Nissan from collapse." A representative for Ghosn replied in a statement that the allegations made against the former Nissan chairman "will be revealed for what they are: part of an unsubstantiated smear campaign against Carlos Ghosn to prevent the integration of the Alliance and conceal Nissan's deteriorating performance." The group issued 38 recommendations to bolster Nissan's governance, including that top executive positions at the Japanese car maker should not be held by people serving in executive positions at Renault or junior partner Mitsubishi Motors. It also proposed that the majority of directors, including the chairman of the board, be independent, outside directors and that the role of company chairman be abolished. Responding to the committee's comments, Saikawa told reporters on Thursday that Nissan would seriously consider the committee's recommendations, which he characterized as "tough." Saikawa, who was speaking outside his home, did not specifically address his responsibility in the scandal but has previously said that top management, including himself, were responsible for weak governance which led to the misconduct. The recommendations from the external, seven-member committee came weeks after Nissan and Renault said they would retool their alliance, one of the world's biggest automaking groupings, to break up the all-powerful chairmanship previously held by Ghosn. "There are facts sufficient to suspect violations of laws and regulations, violation of internal rules and private use of company funds and expenses ... by Mr. Ghosn," the committee said in its report.

Bison in Yellowstone get their 15 minutes of fame in viral video

Weighing in at anywhere from 700 to 2,000 pounds, American bison are essentially nothing more than fuzzy, horned tanks. You can imagine, then, the damage that one can do when it gets up a head of speed. A couple touring Yellowstone National Park found that out the hard way, when one particularly angry bison took exception to the millions of American motorists that turn untold numbers of his furry friends into road kill each year (we may be guessing at the bison's motives). The couple had stopped to watch Yellowstone's well-known herd when the incident occurred, causing nearly $2,800 in damage to the couple's Nissan Xterra. Check out the video of the actual incident up top, and then scroll down for a second video showing damage to the Xterra. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Nissan expands regional airbag recall to 45k Sentras [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Nissan's official statement about this recall expansion has been added below. Nissan is expanding its regional Takata airbag inflator recall for the passenger side of an estimated 45,000 Sentras from the 2004-2006 model years in high-humidity states. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has not yet published the specifics of the broadened campaign, but Nissan spokesperson Steve Yaeger told Autoblog that the company submitted a Defect Incident Report to the agency yesterday, April 16. According to Reuters, the expansion followed a case in March where a women in Louisiana was injured by a ruptured airbag in a 2006 Sentra. Yaeger clarified this to Autoblog via email by stating, "This action is not in response to lawsuit filed yesterday. [The] recall was initiated before that came to light." As required under the law, affected owners should be notified within the next 60 days, he indicated. Nissan was already recalling nearly 700,000 vehicles for the faulty inflators. While millions of owners from multiple automakers were affected by the potentially dangerous parts last year, the safety campaigns haven't quite finished yet. Honda expanded its own nationwide campaign to add 100,000 more units in March. Related Video: Nissan Statement Based on new field information and in consultation with NHTSA, Nissan Group is taking further action to expand the previously announced Takata Inflator Regional Recall to include additional Model Year 2004-2006 Nissan Sentra vehicles in the affected areas of the U.S. and its territories. If you receive a recall letter please take your vehicle to a Nissan dealership to have the recall work performed at no cost. The company urges anyone who owns any vehicle that is potentially affected by the Takata's recalls to enter their vehicle's identification number (VIN) on NHTSA's site https://vinrcl.safercar.gov/vin/ or Nissan USA and Infiniti USA web sites. The web sites will be updated with newly affected vehicles in approximately two weeks. Nissan and Infiniti are committed to a high level of customer safety, service and satisfaction and are working with NHTSA, Takata and our dealers to promptly address this issue.