Tag: Nissan

UPDATE 4-Nissan’s Kelly released on bail as Tokyo court rejects prosecutors’ plea

TOKYO (Reuters) – Former Nissan Motor Co Representative Director Greg Kelly has been released on bail after more than a month in detention on financial-misconduct charges, as a Tokyo court rejected prosecutors’ request to keep the American executive in custody. Media crews are seen on step ladders in front of the Tokyo Detention Center, where… Continue reading UPDATE 4-Nissan’s Kelly released on bail as Tokyo court rejects prosecutors’ plea

BMW tries to revive lagging 3 Series sales with new 2019 design that’s more, well, BMW-like

BMW refreshes its Series 3 sedan
4:45 PM ET Fri, 14 Dec 2018 | 01:05

BMW likes to boast that it builds “the ultimate driving machine,” and if any individual model has deserved that reputation, it's the 3 Series sedan.

While BMW produces a broad range of vehicles — traditional sedans, sports cars, wagons and a growing list of sport utility vehicles — no vehicle is more closely identified with the carmaker than its 3 Series.

The Bavarian automaker has sold about 4.5 million of the sedans since the 3 Series' introduction in 1975, making it the best-selling luxury nameplate in automotive history. But it has lost momentum in recent years, something BMW hopes to remedy with the launch next year of its next generation 3 Series — its seventh iteration.

The outgoing model, introduced in 2011, took a number of hits for losing its traditionally unique mix of performance, handling and luxury.

Initial reviews of the 2019 model have been overwhelmingly positive, with a headline in the influential Automobile magazine declaring the 2019 sedan “a Proper 3 Series Again.”

Source: Paul Eisenstein
2019 BMW 330i

Perhaps, but the seventh-generation sedan faces a level of uncertainty not seen since the original model, internally code-named the E21, debuted in 1975. That includes not only a wave of new competitors, but other offerings found right within the BMW showroom that reflect the dramatic market shift from sedans to sport utility vehicles.

“The 3 Series is truly the heart and soul of BMW,” said Thomas Baumer, project head for the 2019 3 Series, adding that “it is truly critical” that the new 2019 model regain momentum lost by the sixth-generation sedan.

As recently as 2013, BMW set a U.S. sales record. American buyers drove off in 93,544 3 Series models. But volumes have steadily declined, dipping to just 53,470 in 2017. And the downward trend has continued this year — 3 Series sales for the first 11 months of 2018 were off by 23 percent.

There are a number of reasons why BMW may have lost momentum. The Automobile review noted that the traditionally crisp characteristics of the 3 Series became “muddled” with the outgoing model, adding, “More than a few pundits and purists have found the traditional joys of the 3 Series less present in recent years.”

Source: BMW
The current model, a 2018 BMW Series 3, is being redesigned.

If that alone was the problem, the new model might be able to stage a rapid recovery. CNBC was also able to test the new 3 Series during a media drive in Portugal's Algarve region this month and found its handling precise, steering crisp and, with as much as 62 more horsepower, depending upon the model, capable of giving a motorist neck-snappingly quick acceleration.

But that's by no means the only challenge for the gen-7 sedan.

“The BMW 3 Series has been the icon in its class, and when you're the icon, everyone is gunning for you,” said John McElroy, a veteran automotive analyst and host of the industry broadcast AutoLine.tv.

In years past, most competitors aimed to carve out their own niche. With its own compact sedan, the Audi A4 was focused on design, Mercedes-Benz aiming for Teutonic plushness with the C-Class. But the lines have been blurring, and those German rivals have sharply upped their own performance game, reviewers are quick to point out. So have Japanese rivals like Nissan's Infiniti and Toyota's high-line Lexus, the Japanese giant's CEO Akio Toyoda declaring the need to put more “passion” into its products.

Source: Paul Eisenstein
2019 BMW 330i

An equally serious challenge is being posed by new entrants, such as Genesis, the luxury brand recently spun off by Korea's Hyundai. Its first entry into the compact sports sedan segment has generated intense buzz, the G70 winning the coveted Motor Trend magazine Car of the Year award.

By hiring away former BMW executives including Albert Biermann, now its R&D chief, as well as executives from Bentley, Bugatti, Mercedes and Lamborghini, Hyundai's luxury brand has been able to “build a legitimate 3 Series competitor,” Motor Trend declared in awarding the G70 its trophy.

The reality is that Genesis G70 sales have been marginal so far, but there's an even bigger threat coming from California now that Tesla appears to have finally resolved the “production hell” problems at its battery and assembly plants. The all-electric Model 3 has also taken aim at BMW's “heart and soul” and is rapidly leaving the 3 Series in the dust, at least from a sales perspective. It delivered around 18,000 of the compact sport sedans last month, according to industry estimates, compared with 3,218 3 Series.

The BMW numbers may be a bit misleading, as demand typically dips ahead of the launch of a new model. Sales for the 3 Series fell 47.9 percent year over year in November. But even using year-earlier figures, the Model 3 would have outsold the 3 Series by nearly 3 to 1.

There's an even bigger challenge, said analyst McElroy. “People are drifting away from sedans to SUVs and CUVs, so the biggest competitor may be the product on the other side of the BMW showroom.”

Indeed, in sharp contrast to the declining demand for the 3 Series, BMW's compact crossover utility vehicle, the X3, posted a 77 percent year-over-year sales jump last month, while year-to-date demand is up 45.1 percent.

And it's not just the 3 Series that has seen sales upended. BMW passenger car sales, on the hole, were down 2.5 percent in the U.S. through the end of November. The brand's crossover lineup — or sport activity vehicles, as it prefers to call them — rose 10.8 percent year over year.

BMW officials contend that their goal isn't to make the 3 Series the best-selling compact sport sedan in the industry, just the one that sets the benchmark for performance and handling. It may not be number one, but it's the model that continues to define the brand, whatever model you're talking about, sedan, coupe, wagon, sports car or sport utility vehicle.

And from the standpoint of the initial reviews, that's where the new 2019 BMW 3-Series is truly delivering.

Source: Paul Eisenstein
2019 BMW 330i

WATCH:
How automakers sell a $71,000 version of a $27,000 car

How automakers sell a $71,000 version of a $27,000 car
10:40 AM ET Thu, 28 June 2018 | 02:46

Crossover SUV Eclipse Cross Wins RJC Car of the Year 2019

Tokyo, November 14, 2018 – Mitsubishi Motors Corporation today announced that the Eclipse Cross crossover SUV has been selected as the “RJC Car of the Year 2019” run by the Automotive Researchers’ & Journalists’ Conference of Japan (RJC) after final judging on November 13.   In selecting Eclipse Cross, the RJC selection committee commented: “Not… Continue reading Crossover SUV Eclipse Cross Wins RJC Car of the Year 2019

Renault-Nissan email reveals executives considered private Ghosn payment plan in 2010

Marlene Awaad | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Carlos Ghosn, chairman of the alliance between Renault SA, Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., pauses during a Bloomberg Television interview at the Paris Motor Show in Paris, France, on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018.

Senior executives at Renault-Nissan worked on a plan as far back as 2010 to pay Chairman Carlos Ghosn part of his salary without having to publicly disclose the amount, according to an email seen by CNBC.

In the text, Ghosn's alleged accomplice and former Nissan Director Greg Kelly asked Renault's then general secretary, Mouna Sepehri, to weigh up the legal risks of such an action. Sepehri is now executive vice president at Renault and a permanent member of the Renault-Nissan Alliance Board.

The email, dated April 2010, outlines a scenario where Ghosn could receive payment through the Dutch holding firm, RNBV, which was jointly owned by the French and Japanese carmakers. Within the text, Kelly stated that he had warned Ghosn of “some legal risk” to this approach but wanted further legal opinion from other executives, including Sepehri.

Kelly wrote: “I greatly appreciate the work you have done to analyze whether part of the CEO's compensation can be paid without disclosing it publicly.” In a Reuters report Wednesday, that CNBC can confirm, that 2010 plan was never put into action.

Renault was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC, but told Reuters that Kelly had “consulted several people at Renault and Nissan to establish whether it was legally possible that part of the CEO's compensation be paid by RNBV to reflect the time he spent working on alliance synergies.”

Ghosn and Kelly are currently in a Tokyo jail following allegations from Japanese prosecutors that the pair failed to declare around $43 million in deferred compensation between the years of 2010 and 2015.

The exclusive report by Reuters on Wednesday also says bankers at Renault-Nissan developed plans to funnel millions of euros in bonus payments to Ghosn and other senior managers through a Dutch company.

Ghosn, via his Japanese lawyer, has denied any wrongdoing. Kelly also denies any wrongdoing and the pair have had little opportunity to respond to the allegations.

In a statement to CNBC, Nissan said: “We cannot comment regarding the specifics of this investigation and other reports.”

Ranger redux: Ford hopes to claw its way back into exploding midsize truck market

Meghan Reeder | CNBC
2019 Ford Ranger pickup

The windshield wipers slap furiously as the pickup splashes its way through the deep mud bog, the last in a series of obstacles along an off-road trail rough enough to shake loose a few fillings.

It's not the sort of route most drivers will experience in a lifetime, but pickup owners expect their trucks to be ready to handle that sort of situation on a regular basis.

So, when Ford decided to give some automotive journalists a chance to drive the all-new Ranger pickup this month, it took them up into the mountains east of San Diego where they could put the truck through what can best be described as a torture test.

Ford's full-size F-Series pickups make up the best-selling product line in the U.S. automotive market, but the automaker has been notably absent from the midsize truck segment since killing off the old version of its Ranger back in 2012, shuttering the archaic Twin Cities Assembly Plant in Minnesota. It's a decision the automaker soon came to regret.

Rule the road

Through the 1980s, small trucks ruled the road. For then-young baby boomers, they were a cheap way to get a new set of wheels. But over the last two decades, the market has shifted to full-size models like the Ford F-150 and rival Chevrolet Silverado. With demand for midsize products spiraling downward, Ford and its Detroit rivals all pulled the plug, leaving just two imports, the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier, to fight it out for the remaining scraps. Ford, in particular, was betting it could get old Ranger buyers to cough up a bit more cash for the bigger — and markedly more profitable — F-150.

But things didn't work out quite as planned. For one thing, Ford didn't count on General Motors to get back in the game, in 2015 reviving its Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups. What seemed like a risky bet quickly began to pay off. Not only did sales of the sibling trucks take off, but they gave momentum to the midsize market as a whole, sales of the Tacoma and Frontier also improving. Two years later, Honda returned to the segment with a complete remake of its Ridgeline model.

Ford
The interior of the 2019 Ford Ranger

The irony is that Ford actually had a new midsize pickup, an all-new Ranger that it was producing in plants all over the world and selling just about everywhere but the U.S. The automaker was so sure there wouldn't be a market, it didn't even bother to engineer it to meet U.S. regulations — a process known as homologation — or make it robust enough for the unique demands of American buyers.

By 2016, it was obvious to Ford planners and senior executives that they were missing a huge opportunity, made all the more obvious by the explosive growth in light trucks, in general. Pickups, vans and utility vehicles now account for about 2 out of every 3 new vehicles sold in the States.

$100 million

Ford engineers had a good place to start with the new Ranger, but they couldn't just bring over the global model. It needed some major revisions to boost its cargo and towing capacity, as well as to let it handle serious off-road driving conditions.

The automaker won't discuss what the project cost but analysts like Joe Phillippi of AutoTrends Consulting estimate it ran well over $100 million — not including the price tag for tooling up a factory in the Detroit suburbs to build the U.S. Ranger. That was likely millions more than what it might have cost had Ford designed in the needs of the U.S. marketplace in the first place.

“We can't go back and change the past,” Joe Hinrichs, Ford's president of the Americas, said at an event marking the start of Ranger production at the Wayne, Michigan, truck plant six weeks ago. Looking forward, Hinrichs said, the midsize market should grow fast enough to make room for Ford's return.

Ford
2019 Ford Ranger

Since GM launched the revived Colorado and Canyon models, the midsize pickup segment has grown sharply, even as the overall U.S. market has struggled. In 2017, sales rose to 452,336, up from 448,398 the previous year. And with more new product, the forecast is for even faster growth. At the Wayne plant ceremony, Hinrichs told reporters that he expects the market will quickly reach 500,000, with “plenty of room for everybody.”

Crowded market

Not everyone is convinced Ford will have an easy go of it, however. Phillippi pointed out that “the market is going to get crowded.” At this month's Los Angeles Auto Show, Fiat Chrysler officially got back in the game by revealing the long-awaited Jeep Gladiator. It marks the first time that brand has had a pickup in nearly two decades.

The good news for Ford is that initial reviews of the Ranger have been solid. Autoblog declared that “it stands on its own and above the rest.” CNBC's own test found the Ranger to be solid and capable, with the ability to haul as much as 1,800 pounds of cargo and tow a 7,500-pound trailer.

Mike Blake | Reuters
The 2020 Jeep Gladiator is introduced during a Jeep press conference at the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, November 28, 2018.

While that's well short of what some full-size models like the F-150 or the Chevy Silverado can handle, experts say that is more than enough for the typical truck buyer. Indeed, midsize models are nearly as large as — and boast nearly the same capabilities as — the full-size trucks of the 1980s thanks to the way the auto industry regularly upsizes its products with each new generation.

“These (midsize) trucks will do virtually everything a suburban cowboy needs,” said Phillippi. Add the ability to do some things that those full-size trucks can't, like park in the typical suburban garage.

MSRP gap

Then there's the matter of price. The aging Nissan Frontier starts at just $18,990, barely half the cost of the typical new vehicle sold in the U.S. this year. The 2019 Ford Ranger will carry a base MSRP of $24,300. While a stripped-down F-Series starts just over $28,000, the gap between midsize and full-size models, as buyers typically equip them, pushes quickly above $10,000.

Source: Nissan
The 2016 Nissan Frontier S King Cab Pickup.

Prospects for the midsize market seem solid enough that there could be still more entries. The five-year plan outlined last June by the late Sergio Marchionne, Fiat Chrysler's former CEO, called for the Dodge division to return to the segment after abandoning its own midsize truck, the Dakota, earlier in the decade.

Volkswagen might even get in the game. The German maker has its own pickup, the Amarok, which it sells primarily in Latin American and Europe. Last June, VW signed a memorandum of understanding with Ford that initially focused on joint efforts in the commercial vehicle segment. But company insiders confirm that the two potential partners are now looking at a variety of opportunities. That could even include a VW version of the Ranger, according to some sources.

Indian pickups

Then there's Mahindra & Mahindra. A decade ago, the Indian automaker attempted to launch a U.S. dealer network to market an SUV and a pickup. That effort collapsed during the Great Recession. But Mahindra recently launched production of a small off-road vehicle, the Roxor, at a plant in Auburn Hills, Michigan. And more could come, Group Chairman Anand Mahindra told reporters at the opening of the factory a year ago.

“I think a very logical step after that would be to get on-road,” he hinted. While a street-legal Roxor appears to be in the works, a version of one of Mahindra's Indian pickups could also follow.

Hyundai, meanwhile, is working on a slightly smaller truck based on the Santa Cruz concept that won rave reviews when introduced at the North American International Auto Show a few years back. A production version could be ready sometime in 2020 or 2021, according to the Korean carmaker.

Much as with SUVs, automakers are wondering whether there might be a market for still smaller pickups, more akin to the compact models that won the hearts of then-young boomers. Ford has dropped hints it may have something to slot in below the Ranger. How the midsize segment fares over the next several years could determine whether pickup buyers will get even more options.

CORRECTION: The article was updated to reflect that the Ranger will be reintroduced in 2019.

Paul Eisenstein
is a freelancer for CNBC. His travel and accommodations for this article were paid by Ford.