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Nissan's Ghosn highest paid exec in Japan again, at $10M per year

Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn is on track to be the highest-paid executive in Japan for the fourth time in five years. Ghosn's salary and bonuses last year rang the register to the tune of $9.8 million (995 million yen), and when stock dividends are added to the equation, the exec's total pay crested a billion yen. That represents a 0.7-percent increase over his pay from the previous year. Ghosn earned an additional $3.1 million as CEO of Renault.
According to Bloomberg, Ghosn's compensation was announced at a shareholder's meeting in Japan, prompting an explanation from the CEO. "I understand the sensitivity of the issue," Ghosn said. "Being in Japan should not be a handicap to attract talent. We need the best minds, we need the best talents."
Few would argue with that assessment, we'd guess, but it doesn't answer the question of whether Ghosn is the most talented CEO in Japan. Akio Toyoda, head of Toyota in Japan, earned 230 yen (though, as a large shareholder in Toyota, Toyoda's dividend payments bring him closer to Ghosn) in compensation while steering his automaker to a profit that was five times higher than Nissan's. Honda President Takanobu Ito was paid the comparatively small sum of 150 million yen last year.

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 Friend-Me Concept is cooler than its name

Here is the Nissan Friend-Me, a swoopy - and let us emphasize that word "swoopy" - sedan-with-a-hatchback developed specifically for Chinese youth in their mid-twenties, the ones born in the '80s mainly bereft of siblings due to China's one-child policy. The exterior is meant to be most imposing at night, when Nissan figures these single children will be getting together with their friends. The sheetmetal looks like it was shaped by waves, and the details like lighting and vent openings could have been penned on Krypton.
The real show is inside, where peers are made equal and can interact with one another via the "oracle stone." The concept is that instead of a driver and three passengers, everyone gets access to the same information and the ability to alter the ambiance of the car - dash readouts are provided for all of the occupants, and anyone can move content from their phones to the in-car screens to be shared throughout. As Nissan says, it's the end of anyone being a "music dictator."
Designed by Nissan Design China for a specific market-within-a-market estimated to contain 240 million potential buyers, Nissan says the wishes of these customers and the ideas in this car could shape automotive offerings for decades to come. So read all about it in the press release below and take some long virtual looks in the galleries of high-res photos.