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Japanese automakers ramping production for renewed American sales

The 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan took quite the toll on the automotive industry in that nation. Not content to lean on that tragedy as excuse for slagging sales, the Japanese automakers are planning on a major production expansion in North America. The aim is to reclaim the market share lost from the Tsunami-based dip, and overcome a dollar/yen exchange rate that makes exporting to America unprofitable.
Following the Tsunami, Japanese automakers ramped up production in their North American facilities to compensate, but according to Automotive News, Nissan, Honda and others have all reported plans for still-further increased production in the year ahead. As part of this ramp-up, Mazda will open a facility in Salamnca, Mexico before March of 2014. Part of that increase in output is 50,000 units of a Toyota-badged compact car, which Mazda will produce.
Other Mexican production facilities opening include a Honda plant, which will open in Spring 2014 in Celaya, and a Nissan plant, set to open later this year in Aguascalientes. Nissan also said that it will need another plant in North America within the next five years. According to Nissan Boss Carlos Ghosn, the company aims to raise its stake in the US market from 8 percent to 10, and adding production will help achieve that goal. Even Mitsubishi is aiming to boost production at its Normal, Illinois plant. Production of the Outlander Sport is currently at 50,000, which Mitsubishi wants to raise to 70,000.

Feds arrest two men accused of smuggling Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a box

Authorities say this Dec. 30, 2019, image from security camera video shows Michael Taylor, center, and George-Antoine Zayek at passport control at Istanbul Airport in Turkey. Taylor, a former Green Beret and his son, Peter Taylor, 27, were arrested Wednesday in Massachusetts on charges they smuggled Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a box in December 2019, while he awaited trial there on financial misconduct charges. / Getty Images   WASHINGTON — A former Green Beret and his son were arrested Wednesday in Massachusetts on charges they smuggled Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a box while he awaited trial there on financial misconduct charges. Michael Taylor, a 59-year-old former Green Beret and private security specialist, and Peter Taylor, 27, are wanted by Japan on charges they helped Ghosn escape the country in December after he was released on bail. The men were arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service in Harvard and were expected to appear before a judge via videoconference later Wednesday. The tale of the daring escape began on Dec. 28, 2019, when Peter Taylor arrived in Japan and met with Ghosn at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo for about an hour, authorities said. Just before 10 a.m. the next day, Michael Taylor flew into Osaka, Japan, on a chartered Bombardier Global Express jet from Dubai with another man, George-Antoine Zayek, carrying two large black boxes with them. The elder Taylor was experienced with sticky situations. Over the years, he has been hired by parents to rescue abducted children, gone undercover for the FBI in a sting on a Massachusetts drug gang and worked as a contractor for the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. The last assignment had landed him in a Utah jail for 14 months, caught in a federal contract fraud case that upended TaylorÂ’s family and finances before he agreed to plead guilty to two charges. It's not clear yet how Ghosn hooked up with Taylor. At their arrival, Taylor and Zayek, his Lebanese-born colleague, told airport employees they were musicians carrying audio equipment. Meanwhile, Ghosn, who was out of custody on a hefty bail, headed to the Grand Hyatt in Tokyo and met up with Peter Taylor in his hotel room, authorities said. The elder Taylor and Zayek joined after a brief stop to rent a separate room near the airport. And soon after their arrival, the group left the Grand Hyatt and split up.

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.