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Carlos Ghosn's rise and fall — and dramatic flight — streams in August

It turned out that Carlos Ghosn was not the perfect CEO after all.  On the run for nearly five years and living in exile in Lebanon for part of that time, Ghosn’s story — he was the former global chief of Nissan and Renault — and his subsequent dramatic escape from Japan is the stuff that Â… well, documentaries are made of. On August 25, Wanted: The Escape of Carlos Ghosn, a series in four parts, will begin streaming on Apple TV+. This new screen story (there have been others previously) hones in on his rise to fame, his multiple arrests for financial misdeeds and his made-for-Hollywood escape from Japan. Ghost had contacted a former Green Beret and was hustled out of the country by private jet in December, 2019, hidden in a musical instrument box. originally designed to hold a trombone. Ghosn has lived in Lebanon, where he has citizenship, ever since. To this point Lebanon has refused requests to extradite him. The Apple TV+ documentary will cover all of this, with never-before-seen footage and interviews. Mike Taylor, the former Green Beret who helped Ghosn escape, will tell his side of the story alongside Ghosn and others. The film has been executive produced by James Gay-Rees and Paul Martin from Formula 1: Drive to Survive. GhosnÂ’s background puts perspective on the story. He worked for 18 years with Michelin North America, where he was ultimately appointed as chief executive in 1990. In 1996, he joined Renault, and played a pivotal role in the alliance formed between Renault and Nissan. In mid-2001, he was appointed as NissanÂ’s new chief executive, and by 2005 he was running both Nissan and Renault. But in 2018 he was arrested at the Tokyo International Airport on allegations of under-reporting his salary and misusing company assets. He was subsequently arrested three more times on similar charges. He was held in and out of Japanese prison through much of 2019 before he was released on bail that April, eight months before his escape. Ghosn recently filed a lawsuit against Nissan, seeking more than $1 billion from the company. He accuses the automaker and others of defamation and fabricating evidence. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge to cost over $100,000?

Enthusiasts have been clamoring for Infiniti to build a car like the Q50 Eau Rouge for years. In concept form, it employs the GT-R's much-loved 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6, tuned to produce 560 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque, with the whole works slid underneath fetching luxury sedan bodywork with carbon fiber aero aids. At this point, the model is rumored to be all but certain for production. The company recently even put Sebastian Vettel in one to show it off. However, Infiniti President Johan de Nysschen is suggesting that the model's lifetime could be brief, limited and rather expensive.
The Infiniti boss recently gave a long interview to Motor Trend that spilled a lot of beans about the Eau Rouge. While he refused to officially admit that the super sedan was on the way, he admits that he's "pushing the Eau Rouge concept for commercialization."
According to de Nysschen, if built, the production version will hew closely to the concept with the engine from the GT-R, but the seven-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive system will come from the Q70. And while that would make the Eau Rouge a performance powerhouse, it might also be a rarity on the road:

Carlos Ghosn takes a walk in a park, as lawyer apologizes for disguise

TOKYO — Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn was seen walking in a Tokyo park on Friday, two days after his release in a strange disguise from a Japanese detention center. Ghosn, this time in sunglasses and a Stanford baseball cap (his daughter Caroline's alma mater), was spotted outdoors twice on Friday, strolling outside in the crisp March air. He and several others, believed to be his wife and daughters, visited a downtown Tokyo garden as members of the media trailed them and watched. The intense media attention was what led Ghosn's lawyers to suggest he leave the Tokyo Detention Center after his release on bail Wednesday in a laborer's outfit of cap, surgical mask and high-visibility vest, attorney Takashi Takano said. Many were baffled by the somewhat transparent disguise, which has riveted Japanese tabloid media. One TV show re-enacted his departure. Takano said in a blog post that he took full responsibility for what he called the "theater of disguise." He apologized for its failure. The outfit was confusing but didn't deter media from tracking the small van he traveled in after his release, in a spectacle broadcast live on television. "My immature plan, as a result, has tarnished the reputation that he has devoted his whole life to build," Takano said of his client. Takano asked the media to respect Ghosn's privacy. That plea appeared to go unheeded as cameramen closely followed the celebrity executive as those walking with him stared straight ahead in apparent annoyance. Ghosn, who headed the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors alliance, has been charged with falsifying financial reports, under-reporting his income and breach of trust in having Nissan Motor Co. shoulder personal investment losses and make payments to a Saudi businessman. He says he is innocent and that the income allegedly under-reported was never paid or decided, that Nissan never suffered the investment losses and the payments were for legitimate services. In Japan, suspects are routinely kept in detention until preparations for their trials are ready, meaning they are often detained for months. The court rejected two earlier requests by Ghosn for bail. Ghosn led Nissan for two decades, saving the Yokohama-based automaker from near bankruptcy. He was arrested on Nov. 19.