Author: Green Car Online News

Japanese judge releases former Nissan chairman Ghosn on bail

Carlos Ghosn
In an unusual move in Japan, former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn was released on bail Wednesday after 108 days in jail, according to a report in Automotive News.

Ghosn, who is known as the father of the Nissan Leaf for his work championing the car's production, was arrested in November on charges of allegedly misusing company funds and underreporting his compensation for 10 years.

In Japan, criminal suspects are routinely held without bail, and prosecutors can file new charges against jailed suspects to extend their detention, as they had with Ghosn.

READ MORE: Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn reportedly arrested over financial misdealing

Ghosn maintains his innocence, calling his arrest and imprisonment a “terrible ordeal.”

“I am innocent and totally committed to vigorously defending myself in a fair trial against these meritless and unsubstantiated accusations,” he said in a statement following his release.

He faces 10 years in prison if convicted.

MUST READ: Japanese prosecutors charge former Nissan chairman Ghosn, automaker itself

Ghosn changed lawyers in February and hired Junichiro Hironaka, a Japanese defense attorney who became known as “the Razor” for his success in winning bail and acquittals in high-profile cases. Japan has a conviction rate of more than 99 percent in criminal cases.

Hironaka referred to the Japanese system of holding suspects without bail, and allowing prosecutors extensive interviews without a defense attorney present as “hostage justice,” designed to elicit confessions. He filed a brief with the United Nations human rights office in Geneva claiming that Ghosn's rights were violated while he was in custody.

CHECK OUT: Carlos Ghosn, electric-car proponent and embattled executive, quit as Renault boss

Ghosn, then CEO of Renault, joined Nissan in 1999 when the company was facing bankruptcy, and became its CEO as well in 2001. He is largely responsible for building one of the largest automaking alliances in history between the two companies. Mitsubishi also joined the alliance in 2016.

He was arrested on Nov. 19, after arriving in Japan for a Nissan board meeting. He has since been ousted as chairman of Nissan and Mitsubishi as a result of the allegations, and resigned as CEO of Renault.

Bail was set at $8.9 million (1 billion yen), which Ghosn reportedly paid in cash, and it came with severe conditions, including live video cameras in Ghosn's home, and severe limits on travel, including a ban on leaving Japan. Hironaka said he doesn't expect Ghosn's case to come to trial for several more months—perhaps after the summer.

Audi Q4 e-tron, Honda electrifies Europe, Polestar and tariffs: Today’s Car News

Hispano-Suiza Carmen
Audi reveals its third electric SUV in Geneva. Honda announces plans to electrify its European lineup. A startup automaker with Porsche connections plans to introduce an electric car with even faster charging than Porsche. Plans for Volvo's Polestar brand could be in flux due to trade tariffs. And readers weigh in on a potential name for Ford's upcoming electric SUV in our latest Twitter poll. All this and more on Green Car Reports.

Volvo's Polestar performance brand isn't going to pull the plug on the U.S. due to trade tariffs with China. But it will be affected by them.

After introducing the e-tron quattro SUV later this year, Audi plans to follow up with more electric models, including a variant of the e-tron quattro, and now the cheaper Q4 e-tron, based on Volkswagen's affordable electric-car architecture.

Honda announced plans to “electrify” every model in its European lineup by 2025. It's not clear how many models may plug in, as opposed to being hybrids that run on gas.

The grandson of automotive engineering pioneer Ferdinand Porsche, Anton Piëch, has launched a new automaker in Switzerland, and its first model may be able to charge up to 80 percent in less than five minutes.

In our Twitter poll results from last week, our readers weren't buying any of the historic electrified names we suggested for Ford's new electric SUV.

The founder of historic Spanish luxury-car brand Hispano-Suiza always planned to bring an electric-car to market, and his heirs showed the brand's first EV at the Geneva auto show Tuesday.

Finally, Volvo announced plans to limit the top speed of its future cars to 112 mph in an effort to improve safety. It might save some fuel and emissions, too.

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