Free Republic

Friedrich Merz is spending his first day as leader of Germany visiting France and Poland, promising a “fresh start” to EU relationships and signalling defiance to President Trump in saying they will never accept an “imposed” peace on the Ukraine War. The French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed newly appointed Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Paris on Wednesday, the leaders of the two largest and richest countries in Europe publishing a joint statement vowing greater cooperation on defence, economics, and the Ukraine War. Merz will later today travel to Poland for more meetings, which in both cases he said were to launch...

Nissan, once a titan of the automotive world, is now teetering on the brink of collapse, jeopardising the livelihoods of 7,000 UK workers. Amid the crisis, financial mismanagement, fierce competition, and an inability to adapt to market changes have left the Japanese automaker grappling with an uncertain future. Leadership Shake-Up Amid Financial Turmoil The situation worsened when Stephen Ma, Nissan's Chief Financial Officer, resigned during the company's battle against looming bankruptcy. The Financial Times reports that Nissan is at risk of amassing a record debt of £4.4 billion ($5.6 billion) by 2026, with global sales plummeting 3.8% to 1.59 million...

Nissan’s sales are plunging in critical markets, putting their profit forecasts in jeopardy. Can the struggling automaker find a way back to profitability? Nissan is facing one of its toughest financial challenges in recent history. Late last week, the Japanese automaker reported dismal global sales figures, raising concerns that it may fall short of its fiscal year profit forecast, which the company already lowered back in July due to poor sales. Operating profit plunged by 99% last quarter, and sales dropped 5.5% in August, marking the company’s fifth consecutive month of decline... The picture became even more grim on Tuesday...

High purchase prices are a major barrier to the wider adoption of electric vehicles. A significant portion of this cost comes from expensive batteries. However, in recent years, automakers have been employing an advanced manufacturing technique known as gigacasting. This method helps offset the high cost of batteries, simplifies production, and reduces the weight of EVs. Nissan will follow Tesla, and several other carmakers like Toyota, Hyundai, and Ford, in adopting this technology. The brand aims to reduce the costs of EV parts by 10% and slash weight by 20%, Automotive News reported. Nissan's EVs using gigacasting are expected to...

Somehow, I’m not convinced that Nissan is in the most capable of hands. Here is the article from the NY Post that caught my attention:Nissan reveals plans for 16 new electric vehicles by 2026 as EV demand revs upNissan laid out plans for 30 new vehicles by 2026 — 16 of which will be electric as demand for the battery-powered vehicles has revved up in recent months.Nissan’s announcement, reported by Business Wire on Monday, noted “increased electrification” as part of the company’s new business strategy.Introducing a slate of new vehicles, over half of which will be E.V.s, because demand has...

The Hyper Tourer may be able to tell when you need some Barry White and a little mood lighting. Nissan has been revealing a series of concepts ahead of this month’s Japan Mobility Show. We saw the Hyper Urban, a road-going EV crossover and the Hyper Adventure, a more off-road-ready EV crossover. But the latest concept to emerge has us a bit more excited. It’s called the Hyper Tourer. It looks like a wild JDM van. And it has some downright futuristic (and kind of alarming) features. Here’s what we know about it. The Hyper Tourer is not your typical...

The U.S. Treasury said Monday that Volkswagen, BMW, Nissan, Rivian, Hyundai and Volvo electric vehicles will lose access to a $7,500 tax credit under new battery sourcing rules. The Treasury said the new requirements effective Tuesday will also cut by half credits for the Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Rear Wheel Drive to $3,750 but other Tesla models will retain the full $7,500 credit. Vehicles losing credits Tuesday are the BMW 330e, BMW X5 xDrive45e, Genesis Electrified GV70, Nissan Leaf, Rivian R1S and R1T, Volkswagen ID.4 as well as the plug-in hybrid electric Audi Q5 TFSI e Quattro and plug-in...

Nissan is recalling more than 809,000 small SUVs in the U.S. and Canada because a key problem can cause the ignition to shut off while they're being driven. The recall covers certain Rogues from the 2014 through 2020 model years, as well as Rogue Sports from 2017 through 2022. Nissan says the SUVs have jackknife folding keys that may not stay fully open. If driven with the key partially folded, a driver could touch the fob, inadvertently turning off the engine. This can cause loss of engine power and power brakes, and the air bags might not inflate in a...

Nissan is working with NASA on a new type of battery for electric vehicles that promises to charge quicker and be lighter yet safe, the Japanese automaker said Friday. The all-solid-state battery will replace the lithium-ion battery now in use for a 2028 product launch and a pilot plant launch in 2024, according to Nissan. The all-solid-state battery is stable enough to be used in pacemakers. When finished, it will be about half the size of the current battery and fully charge in 15 minutes, instead of a few hours. The collaboration with the U.S. space program, as well as...

Japan’s two biggest automakers, Toyota and Nissan, will ask Britain to reimburse them for additional custom charges incurred if the UK government fails to reach a Brexit trade deal with the European Union, the Nikkei financial daily reported on Monday. The companies - Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co Ltd - want payments to cover the additional 10% tax on automobile imports from Britain that the EU would impose should Britain crash out of the EU without an agreement, the Nikkei said, without citing sources.

Decades before a security camera caught Michael Taylor coming off a jet that was carrying one of the world’s most-wanted fugitives, the former Green Beret had a hard-earned reputation for taking on dicey assignments. Over the years, Taylor had been hired by parents to rescue abducted children. He went undercover for the FBI to sting a Massachusetts drug gang. And he worked as a military contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan, an assignment that landed him in a Utah jail in a federal fraud case. Some of those who know Taylor say he is a character of questionable judgment, with a...

Are you in the market for a new car? Do you hate men? Did you think Captain Marvel was a really good movie and still write Tumblr posts about it? Are you a white professional-class woman between the ages of 21-35, living in a coastal city? Well then, Nissan has got the automobile for you. We've all been there: Your boss, who is a male, refuses to promote you because he has a small penis and listens to Joe Rogan. Then Brie Larson shows up and tells you to get in her car for some reason, drives recklessly while listing...

The All-New Nissan Sentra commercial starring superhero feminist Brie Larson is on track to becoming the most disliked YouTube video on the platform. Nissan respond by disabling the comments. The commercial for Nissan’s new car was supposed to send a powerful message on International Women’s Day. “Don’t compromise,” Brie Larson tells a woman who feels oppressed by her male boss as he tells of, “we are going to promote you just yet.” “You went Gillette, never go full Gillette,” the liked comment reads on top of the behind the scenes video of the new Nissan Sentra commercial.

Nissan 7201.T is planning aggressive cost cuts to deal with an unexpected slump in sales as the expansionist strategy it inherited from fugitive former Chairman Carlos Ghosn flounders, four people familiar with the plans said. Japan's second biggest carmaker is set to eliminate at least 4,300 white-collar jobs and shut two manufacturing sites as part of broader plans to add at least 480 billion yen ($4.4 billion) to its bottom line by 2023, two of the people told Reuters. The moves come on top of a turnaround plan unveiled in July and are likely to include cutting Nissan's range of...

I'm in the market for one or the other. Nissans are cheaper-more bang for the buck? An earlier post/article suggested Nissan could go belly up. The article suggested now is the time to buy. I remember the Datsun pick-up. Good truck. You folks are my go-to guys.

Some very bad news today – for Nissan. Profits are down 99 percent. Not a typo. A near-total wipeout – which triggered the wiping out of 12,500 jobs, the immediate suspension of manufacturing in Indonesia and Spain and an announcement that Japan’s second-largest car company will reduce its model lineup by at least 10 percent by 2022. Nissan’s U.S. market share is down to 7.9 percent; it was 8.1 percent a year ago. It is quite possible there won’t be a Nissan by 2022. So, what’s gone awry? One thing – a thing which is going awry generally – is...

Some would argue otherwise, but this is fantastic news. Recent Nissan battery life data suggests that the battery itself may last some 10-12 years beyond the life of the car. The company sees the LEAF's reasonable life at about 10 years. Managing director of Renault-Nissan Energy Services Francisco Carranza reveals that the batteries in those cars seem to have a 22-year life span.

TOKYO — A lawyer for Nissan former Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who was taken back into custody last week, has outlined the conditions for his initial release on bail in an effort to clarify what he called incorrect speculation in the Japanese media. Ghosn, accused of financial misconduct, was arrested in November, but released in March. He was detained again on fresh allegations Thursday. It is unusual in Japan for a suspect who cleared bail to be arrested again.

The court set bail at one billion yen (£6.8m; $8.9m) and Japanese media reports said he could be released as early as Tuesday. ...Prosecutors in Tokyo were expected to file an appeal against the decision to grant bail, which requires Mr Ghosn stay in Japan and be placed under video surveillance.

Japanese carmaker Nissan is cancelling plans to make the next model of its X-Trail sports utility vehicle in Britain, less than two months before the country is due to leave the European Union, broadcaster Sky News said on Saturday. Nissan first said four months after Britain voted in June 2016 to leave the EU that it would manufacture a new model of the SUV in Britain, which was seen as a major vote of confidence in the country’s manufacturing future. The main production plant for the current X-Trail is in Japan, while Nissan’s plant in Sunderland, northeast England, makes the...