on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ex-Nissan exec Greg Kelly's suspended sentence lets him go home

TOKYO — A Tokyo court gave Greg Kelly, a former American executive at Nissan Motor charged with underreporting his boss Carlos GhosnÂ’s pay, a suspended sentence, but cleared him of most of the charges. The verdict announced Thursday of a 6-month sentence suspended for three years will allow Kelly to return to the U.S. during an appeal. Kelly's defense lawyers said they will appeal. It was unclear if prosecutors would also do so. Kelly, who appeared calm during the court session, said afterward that he was stunned by the verdict. “I have always acted in the best interests of Nissan, and I have never been involved in an unlawful act,” said Kelly, who is planning to head back to Tennessee. The court acquitted Kelly on some counts but found him guilty of charges for just one of the eight years for which the compensation allegedly was under-reported. The defense team said that was unacceptable. “Kelly is completely innocent. We cannot accept the erroneous ruling that found him guilty for that final year,” the defense, headed by Yoichi Kitamura, said in a statement. Kelly was arrested in November 2018 at the same time as Ghosn, a former Nissan chairman and head of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. Both insist they are innocent and that the money in question was never paid or decided on. The trial at Tokyo District Court began in September 2020, with Ghosn absent after he jumped bail in late 2019, hiding in a box for music instruments on a private jet. He fled to Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan, and has been writing books and making movies about his experiences. During ThursdayÂ’s session, Chief judge Kenji Shimotsu repeatedly slammed Ghosn, telling the court Ghosn showed greed and malice in a “dictatorial rule” at Nissan. Nissan's faulty governance misled investors and had a damaging impact, he said. Shimotsu said Ghosn made an arrangement for his compensation that was “conducted solely out of his personal greed.” “There is absolutely no room for extenuating circumstances in his motive,” he said. Ghosn called the judgement a “save-face verdict” for the prosecutors and other Nissan executives that he accuses of colluding against him, Kelly, Renault and all shareholders. “I am relieved for Greg and his family,” Ghosn said in a Zoom call with a small group of reporters.

2022 New York Auto Show Roundup | All the reveals, reviews, pictures

NEW YORK — In case you missed it, the New York Auto Show took place this year after being canceled in both 2020 and 2021 due to Covid. A lot of manufacturers showed up in force, but not everybody did. No matter, we were there, and we brought you news, photos and scoops from the floor throughout the show. All of our New York-related stories can be found at our central hub here, but if youÂ’d rather just get a small taste of everything in a quick and digestible format, keep scrolling. 2023 Kia Telluride and its new X-Pro trim Kia revealed the TellurideÂ’s first major refresh at New York, and it makes the three-row crossover a little bit more desirable without screwing up what we liked about it before. ThereÂ’s a new X-Line and X-Pro trim for someone who might want a little more off-road capability, and a number of tech improvements. Most notably, a newly-designed dash features new and bigger screens. 2023 Hyundai Palisade The TellurideÂ’s sister car from Hyundai was treated to a similar refresh. Like the Telluride, Hyundai gave the Palisade a slightly revised look, a new off-road trim (called XRT in the PalisadeÂ’s case), more tech inside and a new dash design with full-width air vents. If we had to choose, weÂ’re a little more impressed with the TellurideÂ’s refresh, as a number of us on staff actually prefer the pre-refresh Palisade styling over the new one. 2023 Jeep Wagoneer L and Grand Wagoneer L This one was inevitable. Jeep revealed the longer, roomier versions of its Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer in New York, and theyÂ’re designated with an “L” at the end of their names. Total length grows by a foot, and the wheelbase goes up by 7 inches versus the standard Wagoneer models. Jeep has essentially allocated all this extra room to the cargo area, as it now offers a staggering 44.2 cubic-feet of space behind the third row. Besides the L, Jeep announced that its new Hurricane inline-six engine would find its first home in the Wagoneer. Efficiency gets a small boost, and power is more than sufficient at either 420 horsepower (standard output) or 510 horsepower (high-output version) from the twin-turbo I-6. Chrysler Airflow Graphite Concept The Stellantis party continues with Chrysler and its slightly revised Airflow. Re-styled for the New York market after initially debuting at CES in Las Vegas, the Airflow Concept gets new paint, changed accent colors, a slightly changed interior design and a new interpretation of the Chrysler logo.

2014 Nissan Rogue earns IIHS Top Safety Pick+ [w/videos]

The 2014 Nissan Rogue has scored a Top Safety Pick+ award following positive crash test results by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The new crossover scored good results (the highest rating) in the group's five crashworthiness checks and a basic rating for front crash prevention.
The IIHS found that the Rogue also performed well in its small overlap front test with a low risk of injuries, and the driver's space maintained its structure well. It was an improvement over the previous generation, which received a marginal rating in that evaluation. The Rogue's optional forward collision warning system was enough for a basic rating in avoiding accidents.
To qualify as a Top Safety Pick, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the the moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint evaluations, plus a good or acceptable result in the small overlap front test. To receive the additional Plus rating in 2014, it must also have a basic, advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention. The IIHS scores vehicles as good, acceptable, marginal or poor, and avoidance systems are scored basic, advanced or superior, depending on the type of system and its performance. Scroll down to watch the videos of the small and moderate overlap crash tests and read the full IIHS statement.