Bluetooth Connection Fuel Efficient Leather Seats High Mpg Warranty Low Miles on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Carlos Ghosn's arrest casts doubt on future of Renault-Nissan alliance

For years, France's Renault and Japan's Nissan struggled to make money in the global auto business. Then came Carlos Ghosn, a Renault executive who helped to orchestrate an unprecedented transcontinental alliance, combining parts of both companies to share engineering and technology costs. Now Ghosn's arrest in Japan for alleged financial improprieties at Nissan could put the nearly 20-year-old alliance in jeopardy. Ghosn, 64, born in Brazil, schooled in France and of Lebanese heritage, is set to be ousted this week from his spot as Nissan chairman. He could also lose his roles as CEO and chairman of Renault, threatening the alliance formed in 1999 that's now selling more than 10 million automobiles a year. He's been "the glue that holds Renault and Nissan together," Bernstein analyst Max Warburton wrote in a note to investors. "It is hard not to conclude that there may be a gulf opening up between Renault and Nissan." In fact, Nissan's investigation into alleged misconduct by Ghosn is expanding to include Renault-Nissan finances, sources told Reuters — in a further sign that Nissan may seek to loosen its French parent's hold on their global carmaking alliance. Nissan told Renault's board on Monday it had evidence of potential wrongdoing at Renault-Nissan BV, the Dutch venture overseeing alliance operations under Renault's ultimate control, three people with knowledge of the matter said. Renault's board planned to meet Tuesday to discuss Ghosn's fate. "Carlos Ghosn is no longer in a position where he is capable of leading Renault," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told France Info radio, calling on Renault's board to meet "in the coming hours" to set up an interim management structure. The French government owns 15 percent in Renault and has a say in its operations. Nissan's board is to meet Thursday to consider Ghosn's fate. Nissan has said it will dismiss Ghosn after he was arrested for allegedly abusing company funds and misreporting his income. That opens up a leadership void at the entire alliance, for which Ghosn officially still serves as CEO and chairman. Ghosn added Mitsubishi to the alliance two years ago after the tiny automaker was caught in a gas-mileage cheating scandal. Renault owns 43.4 percent of Nissan, which owns 15 percent of Renault, with no voting rights in a partnership that began in 1999. Since 2016, Nissan has held a 34 percent controlling stake in Mitsubishi Motor Corp.

Nissan sees old Leaf batteries working for stationary energy

Nissan will start working with a Silicon Valley-based company to further explore creating a market in which old Leaf electric-vehicle batteries can be reused for stationary energy storage. In fact, the Japanese automaker will deploy its first network of old Leaf batteries for electricity storage at one lucky Nissan facility this summer. No, we don't know where that facility is either. The Santa Clara, CA-based Green Charge Networks will be a partner in the project. The concept of the "second-life" lithium-ion battery program involves finding ways to reuse batteries that have outserved their usefulness providing power to Leaf EVs. In this project's case, "multiple" Leaf batteries will be linked to provide power during mid-day peak energy demand, when electricity is at its most expensive. Nissan's done these kind of things before, although, as is the case here, they've always been pilot projects. In fact, the Nissan 4R ("Reuse, Resell, Refabricate and Recycle") team that's working with Green Charge Network is actually a joint-venture Nissan formed with Sumitomo Corp. in 2010. Since then, Nissan has sold more than 178,000 Leaf EVs, giving the company a solid inventory of older lithium-ion batteries to work with in the coming years. Take a look at Nissan's press release below. Nissan and 4R Energy partner with Green Charge Networks for commercial energy storage featuring second-life electric vehicle batteries Partnership enables commercial use of second-life lithium-ion vehicle batteries SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Nissan Motor Company and Green Charge Networks, the largest provider of commercial energy storage, have joined forces to deploy second-life lithium-ion vehicle batteries for stationary commercial energy storage in the U.S. and international markets. With more than 178,000 sales since its launch in late 2010, Nissan LEAF is the world's top-selling electric vehicle. As part of the company's commitment to sustainability and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Nissan has conducted multiple research projects in Japan, the U.S. and Europe to use LEAF batteries outside the vehicle through 4R Energy, a joint-venture with Sumitomo Corp. formed in 2010. In a new stationary storage application powered by Green Charge's intelligent software and Power Efficiency Agreement™, the second-life energy storage unit has a cost advantage over traditional units, opening up new markets where incentive programs are currently not offered.

Nissan says talks with Renault focused on better competing in electric cars

TOKYO — Nissan's talks with Renault on revamping their alliance are focused on strengthening competitiveness as equal partners and getting the most from their investment in electric cars, the Japanese automaker's CEO told Reuters. The negotiations with Renault, Nissan's top shareholder, have less than two weeks remaining to meet a Nov. 15 target the companies had set to reach a deal, according to people with knowledge of the talks. Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida declined to comment on whether an agreement could be reached this month. But he said he was talking with Renault CEO Luca de Meo every weekend and the talks would be "ongoing for the future." People familiar with the negotiations have said the sharing of technology had emerged as one sticking point. Uchida, who has spent much of his Nissan career in positions related to the Franco-Japanese alliance, emphasised that the talks were based on mutual trust. Each company had valuable technology and discussions of technology transfers were to be expected, he added. He said the goal was to improve the automakers' ability to compete at a time of economic uncertainty and as the industry pushes toward what he described as its biggest transformation in a century with the shift to electric vehicles. "The discussion we are having is about how to make our competitiveness even stronger," Uchida said in an interview with Reuters on Friday. "That's number one." His comments were his first to media since the automakers last month said they were discussing the future of their alliance. The partnership, which began with a 1999 investment from Renault and was long overseen by former executive-turned-fugitive Carlos Ghosn, was critical to turning around the Japanese automaker. But Nissan executives have over the years bristled over the unequal ownership structure, with Renault owning 43% of Nissan and the Japanese automaker holding only a 15% non-voting stake in Renault. People with knowledge of the talks have said the two sides have been discussing a reduction in Renault's stake, potentially to 15%, and the terms under which that could happen. "We want it to be an equal partnership," Uchida said, adding that an "equal partnership would make sense and that would speed up the collaboration even more." He did not comment on potential stake levels.