The Nation Newspaper

Category: Motoring

  • Nissan, Mitsubishi say Ghosn improperly received $9m from joint venture

    Austed Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn improperly received $9 million in compensation from a joint venture between Nissan and Mitsubishi, the Japanese automakers said on Friday, raising the possibility of their ousted chairman facing a fresh charge of embezzlement.

    In the latest twist to the saga of the once-feted official’s fall from grace, the automakers have found that Ghosn was paid by their Netherlands-based joint venture without the knowledge of the unit’s two other directors — Nissan Chief Executive Officer Hiroto Saikawa and his Mitsubishi counterpart Osamu Masuko.

    Ghosn, arrested and detained in Tokyo for about two months, has already been indicted on charges of underreporting his income for eight years at Nissan through March 2018, and temporarily transferring personal investment losses to the automaker during the global financial crisis.

    “That such misconduct also occurred at our affiliate is beyond shocking … it’s sad,” Masuko told reporters, referring to the payments made to Ghosn from Nissan-Mitsubishi BV, registered in the Netherlands in 2017.

    Both Mitsubishi and Nissan said they would consider ways to recover the amount from Ghosn, while Mitsubishi lawyer Kei Umebayashi said a criminal charge was also possible.

    “The most likely charge for this would be embezzlement,” he told reporters at a briefing.

    Ghosn’s lawyer, Motonari Otsuru, could not be immediately reached by telephone for a comment on Friday. Ghosn has denied all previous charges against him.

  • 11 untouched 1994 BMW 5 Series discovered in Bulgaria

    A body shop in Bulgaria has posted some incredible pictures on its Facebook page showing 11 essentially never-before-driven 1994 BMW 5 Series (E34s) just sitting there alone.

    Posted by Bozhurishte, Bulgaria-based body shop, the images and video below show an old factory in Blagoevgrad filled with historic black and red Bavarian sheet metal with pristine, still plastic-wrapped, interiors.

    It was learnt that the owners of the BMW 520is and 525is do not want people talking about them.

    David Tracy of an online medium, Jalopnik, who spoke with the shop representative, wrote: “They (the owners) bought more than 300 cars from a bankrupted Spanish dealer and they thought that they could (get) good business with (the cars). But in 1995, the VAT (Value Added Tax) appeared in Bulgaria and some other changes were made by the government and it became hard to sell these expensive cars. Yes, they even thought of making a (rental) car business, to sell part of them to the government.”

    The rust repair shop suspects that the cars were at a Bulgarian BMW dealership outside for a few years prior to being moved, and while the person doesn’t know how long the cars have been wrapped up in the factory, they guess it’s “more than 15 years.”

    A number of people on the Facebook comments seem keen on getting their hands on these basically-undriven 5 Series sedans (and one wagon), and have apparently even sent the workshop offers. But according to the spokesperson, it’s up to the owners to decide how to proceed, going on to say that there will likely be an auction at some point.

    As for when or where that auction will be held, or how much the cars—which have a few exterior blemishes, but appear in excellent shape inside and underneath—will fetch, we just don’t know. A Bulgarian website Autoclub said the expected price will be 15,000 euro per car. When asked about this, the Bulgarian auto body shop simply responded with a thumbs up, apparently confirming the figure.

  • Mazda to launch new-generation SUV

    Mazda Motor Corporation  will launch the production of fully remodelled next-generation Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) at a domestic plant.

    Mazda President Akira Marumoto unveiled the plan in his New Year greeting message.

    Details of the SUV model and the timing of its release will be announced at a later date.

    In 2019, Mazda plans to release a series of new-generation models that adopt its new “Kodo” Soul of Motion design concept and innovative technologies such as a gasoline engine with fuel efficiency enhanced by 20-30 percent.

    As part of the initiative, the automaker is set to release the new Mazda3 sedan in North America this spring Speech

  • Nissan develops tech to see ‘corners’ objects

    Nissan has developed a new in-car interface that uses augmented reality to track what’s happening around you and predict what’s coming up on the road ahead.

    Invisible-to-Visible (I2V) combines local data from the car’s sensors with global data on transport infrastructure to track your immediate surroundings and predict what’s ahead – even letting you ‘see’ through buildings and around corners.

    To make the information more accessible, it can be presented by a virtual ‘navigator’ – an avatar that appears inside the car and interacts with you in a human-like way using speech synthesis. This could be a cartoon character, a virtual representation of a friend or family member, or someone else.

    Nissan said the I2V will bring together the real world and what it calls the metaverse.

    “Simply put, the metaverse is a virtual universe,” says Tetsuro Ueda, an expert leader at the Nissan Research Center.

    “Sensor data, cloud data and artificial intelligence live in the digital world, and their communication language is binary. However, humans cannot understand what’s being communicated just by looking at the binary data.

    “Invisible-to-Visible technology is the interface that merges the data world and the real world – a new level of connectivity that connects cars to the metaverse,” Ueda said.

    I2V will work for both manual and autonomous driving. For autonomous cars, Nissan hopes that the technology will make being chauffeured around a more pleasant experience – showing you the outside world on a sunny day when it’s actually raining, for example.

    It’s also hoped that showing a visualisation of what the car’s artificial intelligence ‘sees’ will put passengers at ease, and help them trust the vehicle.

    For manual driving, the interface will appear as an augmented reality overlay on top of the real view through the car’s windshield. It will also show you information about your estimated travel time, upcoming road congestion, irregular road surfaces, and other factors that could surprise you. I2V will also let you know if someone is about to cross the road ahead, or a parking space is about to become available.

    Nissan will be showing off the tech at CES 2019, where visitors will have the chance to try the interactive, 3D interface for themselves.

  • Police warn vehicle owners

    The Ogun State Police Command has warned owners of abandoned vehicles and motorcycles parked at State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Odogbolu, Ibafo, Mowe, and Ogijo Divisions, to come with their original documents or loss them after 14 days.

    The vehicles are: Nissan 1.4LX marked AE 673 TNN, Jetta GL car – AA 663 REF, J5 Peugeot – AGL 865 XC, Mazda bus – KRD 965 XF, Yukon XL GMC – LND 811 CM, Nissan T100 Pick up- LND 811 CM, Mercedes Benz car – CN 301 ABC, Volkswagen car – GM 78 LND,  Mendez Truck-XN 184 ENU, Pick up – LSD 744 XK, Ford bus – GNN 958 XA, Nissan car – CX 639 LSD, Danfo bus – JJJ 312 NN, Volkswagen bus – GR 55 EKY, Volkswagen bus – XM 96 KTU, Volkswagen bus – AGL 968 XF, Nissan Sunny – AQ 163 AKM, Mazda 323 car – KTU 889 BT, Renault car – GGE 314 CH, Skoda car – FJK 533 AZ, Opel Asconia – XC 346 JGB, Tanker trailer – XA 670 NSN, Hyundai bus – EKY 400 XC, Mitsubishi space wagon – KSF 278 AA, Toyota Hilux – KRD 125 DM, Volkswagen bus, Mazda 626, Toyota Previa, and Peugeot boxer bus all unregistered.

     

    Motorcycles

    Honda bike – JGB 683 WX, Bajaj SMG 411 WG, Boxer red PKA 664 VG, Boxer red AYE 710 QB, Boxer red LSR 779 QB, Boxer red PKA 553 QA, Boxer QW 908 APA, Lifan OY 911 KJA, Bajaj SJM 998 QC, Bajaj FKJ 947 QC, Bajaj JGB 432 WX, Honda TTN 763 VH, Bajaj FFF 528 QC, Suzuki QP 334 KY, Bajaj MUS 172 QA, Bajaj Z 497 LSR, Bajaj QX 813 FJK, Bajaj LSD 573 QF, Bajaj QW 57 EPE, Bajaj 633 BDG, Bajaj LA 218 KUG, Bajaj SRA 076 VD, Bajaj WDE 097 VZ and 12 Bajaj, 2 Jincheng, Boxer

  • Seat belt: Safety or bondage

    Seat Belt is one of the safety devices in vehicles installed to prevent or reduce the impact of braking, cornering and crashes on the vehicle occupants. Consequent upon the numerous benefits of using seat belt, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) imposed a fine on drivers caught for not using seat belt.

    Sadly, only very few drivers truly understand the benefits of seat belt while a larger number of drivers see the use of seat belt as a form of bondage. They only rush to use it when they sight an FRSC officer or other law enforcement agents ahead. Some drivers even reconstructed their seat belt for easy hanging instead of strapping or knuckling it. I have once seen a driver who tied a rope to replace the seat belt which he claimed was not  there when he bought the vehicle. I also heard of a driver who cut off the seat belt of his vehicle and kept it for towing vehicles.

    There are many vehicles particularly commercial buses without seat belts attached to the back seats. Many drivers and passengers erroneously believe that seat belts are to be used by the driver and the passenger beside the driver. In most cases where there are two passengers beside the driver in a bus, it is generally believed that the passenger in the middle does not need to use the seat belt. The seat belts in some vehicles are so dirty that using it will instantly paint the clothes of the passengers brown.

    Without doubt, the non – use of seat belt do increase injuries and deaths in cases of crashes. There is therefore a need for a thorough driver education on the use of seat belt. The use of seat belt is compulsory for every vehicle occupant, both private and commercial vehicles. FRSC and other law enforcement officers must intensify their efforts to ensure that every seat in private and commercial vehicles has a functional and very neat seat belt. There must also be baby seaters with the appropriate belt for babies and other underaged children.

    It is not only the driver and front passengers that should be checked for seat belt use. All the occupants of a vehicle must be checked to ensure full compliance. The habit of reconstructing the seats of buses should be stopped. Such reconstruction often make the fixing of seat belt impossible in most cases thereby increasing the level of injuries and deaths during crashes or near crashes. Overloading of passengers in cars and buses also make the use of seat belt impossible in some vehicles. In a situation where two passengers are sitting on a seat meant for one person and with one seat belt, who uses the seat belt?

    Many people have suffered different levels of injuries, maimed or even dead for not using seat belt. The drivers, passengers and law enforcement officers should take the installation, maintenance/cleaning and use of seat belt seriously henceforth. Life is precious and irreparable and nothing should be too much to do to preserve it. The use of seat belt is for the safety of vehicle occupants and not a bondage.

  • Hyundai Creta, Camry, others get awards

    It was a harvest of awards by leading auto brands, tyre, lubricants marketers in the country as the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA)  recently presented different categories of awards to deserving winners at the Eko Hotels, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    The award night, which had the Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Aliyu Jelani and the representative of the Corp Marshal of the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) as special guests, was well attended by many chief executives and other stakeholders in the nation’s automotive sector.

    In the award categories for 2018, Hyundai Creta won the Car of The Year (COTY) award beating Toyota Corolla and GAC GA3.

    In the Luxury Car of The Year, Mercedes Benz S-class emerged winner ahead of BMW 7-series while the Luxury SUV of the Year award went to Range Rover Autobiography.

    Toyota Hilux and Toyota Hiace clinched the Pick-up of the Year award and Mini Bus of the Year awards respectively.

    Indigenous Lubricant of the year went to Lubcon, just as Ceat smiled home with the Tyre brand of the year.   Miking won Best New Entrant Lubricant.

    Also Massilia was named as the Most Innovative Auto Company (Mitsubishi) while Mitsubishi Fuso Cantre grabbed the Light Duty Truck of the year award and JAC T6 won Auto Value for money. AIICO won the Auto Insurance Company of the year, among others.

    While the Yutong bus won the High Capacity Commercial Passenger Bus of the year, the JAC truck won the Heavy Duty Truck of the year. Both are assembled in Nigeria by Kojo Motors and Lanre Shittu Motors respectively.

    Other winners are Mandilas winning Workshop of The Year; PAN  with Auto Assembly Plant of the Year, Primero Transport Services Limited honoured with Road Transport Operator of The Year and Castrol (Eterna Oil Plc) Outstanding Lubricant of The Year.

    Also, Outstanding Design of the Year (Small Sedan) went to GAC GA3; Outstanding Design of the Year (Big Sedan) was won by Toyota Camry; and Outstanding Design of the Year (SUV) went to Mitsubishi Eclipse.

    In his response, Stallion Motors Nigeria Limited (HMNL) Managing Director Parvir Singh thanked the organisers for putting up the award and for finding the Hyundai Creta worthy for the COTY award.

    He promised that the company will continue to uphold the integrity which the company has been known for, while contributing positively to the Nigeria Auto industry.

    Toyota Nigeria Limited (TNL) Corporate Affairs Manager Mrs Bukola Ogunnusi expressed appreciation for the myriad of awards given to TNL for 2018.

    NAJA Chairman Mike Ochonma, said NAJA award is the most prestigious and only recognised auto award in the country.

    The winners were arrived at after an exhaustive, but objective evaluation of competitors in each of the categories through votes.

    Chairman Organising Committee Moses Ebosele, said the annual event always provides an opportunity for all stakeholders in the sector to come together to celebrate and exchange ideas especially in the areas of manufacturing, efficiency, innovation and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

  • Porsche recalls 74,585 Panamera sedans

    Porsche said it is recalling 74,585 Panamera sedans worldwide, about 19,200 of which are in the United States and Canada.The effort is to fix a software problem that could cause the electric power steering system to be unavailable for short periods.

    The recall covers current-generation Panameras made between March 6, 2016, and December 6, 2018.

    “If this happens, increased force is then required for steering. To avoid this, the associated control unit needs to be reprogrammed with an updated data record as a precautionary measure,” Porsche said in a statement on Thursday.

    A spokesman said Porsche will notify owners in writing and that customers can continue to use their vehicles.

    However, he said owners of affected vehicles should visit a Porsche dealer as soon as possible so that the control unit for electric power steering can be reprogrammed for free. The automaker has not received any reports of personal injury nor is it aware of any accidents linked to the software defect, the spokesman said.

    In June, Porsche announced a recall and stop-sale order in the U.S. for 715 Panameras because “there is a possibility that connecting links for the rear-axle anti-roll bar were installed that do not meet Porsche quality standards.”

    In November, Porsche Cars North America reported U.S. sales of 5,673 vehicles, a 2.1 percent increase from the year-earlier month. Through November, Porsche’s U.S. sales climbed 3.1 percent from a year earlier to 53,116. Strong demand for the Macan, the new-generation Cayenne and the Panamera helped improve November sales.

    A Porsche spokesman did not immediately respond when asked if any injuries or accidents are linked to the software defect.

  • Kia to unveil new in-car tech

    Kia Motors will preview a range of new technologies developed for the post-autonomous driving era at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) next month.

    Kia’s interactive ‘Space of Emotive Driving’ exhibit looks to a future when autonomous driving is the norm and priority is given to improving the human mobility experience. Central to this concept is Kia’s new Real-time Emotion Adaptive Driving (READ) System – a world’s first technology developed based on a joint research collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab’s Affective Computing group.

    READ System can optimise and personalise a vehicle cabin space by analysing a driver’s emotional state in real-time through artificial intelligence-based bio-signal recognition technology. The technology monitors a driver’s emotional state and tailors the interior environment according to its assessment – potentially altering conditions relating to the human senses within the cabin, creating a more joyful mobility experience.

    Kia Motors President and Head of Research and Development Division Mr Albert Biermann, said: “We have developed READ System to create an interactive future mobility in-cabin space by converging cutting edge vehicle control technology and AI-based emotional intelligence. Consequently, READ System will enable continuous communication between drivers and vehicles through the unspoken language of ‘emotional feeling’, thereby providing an optimised human senses-oriented space for drivers in real-time.

  • Massilia chief to stakeholders: expect more from us

    The Deputy Managing Director of Massilia Motors, sole distributor of Mitsubishi vehicles in Nigeria, Mr. Kunle Jaiyesimi, has told the stakeholders in the auto industry to expect more innovation from the firm.

    Massilia Motors won the Most Innovative Automotive Brand in 2018 and the Most Outstanding SUV Design for the recently launched Eclipse Cross model. The Mitsubishi L200 was also amongst the nominees for the Best Pick-Up of the Year.

    This did not come as a surprise to many industry watchers as Massilia Motors has in recent times, been very innovative in its marketing push and has given a new look to its car showrooms . The company has also invested in its aftersales facility in Ijora and ensuring continuous quality improvement.

    With the introduction of models such as the Pajero Sport and the Eclipse Cross, Massilia Motors offers customers sophisticated vehicles that are good value for money.

    The brands new approach was seen during the unconventional launch of the Eclipse Cross at the Heineken Lagos Fashion Week where a virtual reality booth was set up for visitor to tour the vehicle through VR glasses. The company also collaborated with fashion designer Sisiano to create the ‘’Eclipse collection’’ inspired by the compact SUV.

    Earlier this year, Massilia Motors celebrated the centenary anniversary of Mitsubishi Motors as part of its repositioning strategies. The event tagged: Heritage Week was an opportunity to showcase achievements of the Japanese car manufacturer.

    After receiving the awards, Jaiyesimi said: ‘’We are delighted with the recognition. We will continue striving to find new ways to add value to our customers.’’

    Aside the Pajero Sport and Eclipse Cross, other models distributed by Massilia Motors include the ASX, Outlander, Pajero SUV and the L200 robust Pickup.