The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Mitsubishi

  • Mitsubishi shareholders approve ousting of Ghosn

    Mitsubishi Motors shareholders have approved the ousting of Carlos Ghosn, who was pivotal in the Japanese carmaker’s three-way partnership with Nissan and Renault until he was arrested on financial misconduct charges last year.

    The vote took place on last Friday in a two-hour general meeting of shareholders at a Tokyo hotel, with approval shown by clapping from some 500 shareholders present, although some votes were submitted in advance.

    Ghosn was sacked by the board last November.

    Osamu Masuko, who was reappointed chairman of Mitsubishi, promised to strengthen governance and transparency, as well as monitor wrongdoing. More outsiders will check executive appointments and compensation, he said.

    Nissan shareholders held an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting in April to oust Ghosn as chairman. They also approved the appointment of French alliance partner Renault SA’s chairman Jean-Dominique Senard to replace Ghosn.

    Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, is holding a general shareholders’ meeting this week to approve other measures, including setting up committees to strengthen governance. The manufacturer said  that two Renault executives will be on the committees.

    Some analysts have suggested there is a deepening rift between Renault and Nissan after a planned merger between Renault and Fiat Chrysler fell through earlier this month. Nissan expressed reservations about immediately joining the merger.

    Read Also: CAP optimistic as shareholders get N2.03b

    Masuko told shareholders the car industry faced challenges because of the costs of advancements such as emissions standards and self-driving technology. He said the Tokyo-based carmaker would pursue focus over expansion, repeatedly highlighting the company motto ‘small but beautiful’.

    He also stressed the importance of car alliances, telling shareholders: “we want to be a profitable company even if smaller in scale.”

    Ghosn, who led Nissan for two decades, saving it from near-bankruptcy, had served as chairman at Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi, and was long a revered figure in the industry.

    He has been charged with falsifying financial reports in under-reporting retirement compensation and with breach of trust in having Nissan shoulder investment losses and diverting Nissan money for personal gain.

    Ghosn says he is innocent. He has resigned from Renault.

    Nissan owns 34 per cent of Mitsubishi Motors, while Renault owns 43 per cent of Nissan.

  • Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi may discuss merger

    Car makers Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi may discuss a merger later in the future, Jean-Dominique Senard, the Chief Executive Officer of the French car manufacturer said on Saturday.

    “These discussions over a capitalistic merger have been carried out for a while and they were brought out in a dramatic way recently. I think that later on, as events unfold, Renault, Nissan and Mistubishi will think about that with serenity,” Senard said in an interview with France Inter radio station.

    For now, the companies are working on ways to optimise their alliance, said Senard, who heads of it.

    Talks about a possible merger over the past days “have scared out everybody”, Senard said.

    The removal of Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn, credited with rescuing Nissan from near-bankruptcy in 1999, from the head of the alliance has raised a cloud of uncertainty about its future.

    As Nissan ponders its future without Ghosn, who is charged with financial misconduct, French partner Renault has been quietly manoeuvring for merger talks, sources at both automakers have recently told Reuters.

    Ghosn has denied all charges against him.

  • Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi may discuss merger

    Car makers Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi may discuss a merger later in the future, Jean-Dominique Senard, the Chief Executive Officer of the French car manufacturer said on Saturday.

    “These discussions over a capitalistic merger have been carried out for a while and they were brought out in a dramatic way recently. I think that later on, as events unfold, Renault, Nissan and Mistubishi will think about that with serenity,” Senard said in an interview with France Inter radio station.

    For now, the companies are working on ways to optimise their alliance, said Senard, who heads of it.

    Talks about a possible merger over the past days “have scared out everybody”, Senard said.

    The removal of Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn, credited with rescuing Nissan from near-bankruptcy in 1999, from the head of the alliance has raised a cloud of uncertainty about its future.

    As Nissan ponders its future without Ghosn, who is charged with financial misconduct, French partner Renault has been quietly manoeuvring for merger talks, sources at both automakers have recently told Reuters.

    Ghosn has denied all charges against him.

  • Mitsubishi, firm partner to support corporate women

    Sole distributor of Mitsubishi Motors in Nigeria Massilia has partnered She Leads Africa, a group of young women to organise a private evening of networking and learning tagged “Drive your ambition”.

    The session was part of efforts by Massilia, a joint venture of CFAO Group and the Chanrai Group to celebrate women in corporate Nigeria.

    According to Funmi Abiola, Head of Marketing and Communications, Massilia Motors, the event, which took place at the Mitsubishi Motors Showroom on Victoria Island, in Lagos, was another opportunity to bring together senior executives of women from various sectors under one roof to learn and share  experience.

    She said: “ Drive your ambition“, as a networking platform, was created in 2017 when Mitsubishi Motors turned 100 years.

    She said the tag line was created for the event as a continuation of the efforts by the firms to support Nigerians breaking grounds in various industries.

    The co- founder, She Leads Africa, Afua Osei, said the platform provided an opportunity for participants to explore the benefits of networking and bonding.

    Osei said the goal of the session was for participants to meet  people with professional experiences.

    Other speakers were three senior level female corporate executives, including Amuche Okeke-Agba, a partner in McKinsey & Company’s Lagos office, who co-leads the recovery and transformation services practice for McKinsey in West Africa; Ijeoma Agboti-Obatoyinbo, the Managing Director / CEO of FBNQuest Funds Limited, and Ugochi Agoreyo, a Partner Development Senior Specialist for West Africa at SAP.

    The panel was moderated by Abosede George-Ogan, Director, Strategy, Partnerships and Stakeholder Management, at the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF).

    The women spoke of their career experiences, the challenges they have faced and the lessons learnt from those challenges.

    Assessing the event, Abiola said: ”The three key pieces of advice that were shared at Drive your ambition for career building include how to get help. Always make sure you rely on your network of mentors and peers.Visibility is very important.’’

  • Mitsubishi announces lineup for Geneva Show

    Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) will be exhibiting new models at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show, from March 5toMarch17, under the company’s global tagline: Drive your Ambition.

    The Mitsubishi Engelberg Tourer and the 2020 Mitsubishi ASX compact Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) will make their global debuts at the show. The new Mitsubishi L200 one-tonne pick-up will have its first showing in Europe.

    In addition, MMC will demonstrate a new service called “Dendo Drive House (DDH)” which offers ways to reduce climate change and support higher demand for energy.

    This energy ecosystem allows owners to generate, store and share energy automatically between the car and the house. The package, called Dendo as it translates to “electric” in Japanese, is a system composed of solar panels, a bi-directional charger using Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) technology, a home storage battery and Mitsubishi PHEV.

    The MMC show lineup will include the Mitsubishi Engelberg Tourer, the 2020 Mitsubishi ASX compact SUV and the Europe-market 2020 Mitsubishi L200 one-tonne pick-up truck.

    Under the ‘Engineered Beyond Tough’ philosophy that has created successive generations of Mitsubishi pick-up trucks, the new L200 has been developed to an Ultimate Sport Utility Truck concept.

    It features a powerful design incorporating a new generation of MMC’s Dynamic Shield front styling; a 4WD system that delivers improved all-terrain performance and the use of advanced active safety technologies. The Mitsubishi L200’s renowned durability and reliability for business use are complemented by improvements in comfort and ride for private customers.

    The L200 uses a newly-developed 2.2L turbodiesel engine fitted to 6-speed automatic or manual transmissions to deliver powerful and smooth acceleration and quieter performance. The engine employs the AdBlue aqueous urea-SCR system to remove emissions from the exhaust gas and is Euro 6d-Temp compliant.

     

     

  • 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.

  • Obaseki, Toyota, Yamaha, Mitsubishi, others plan investment in Edo

    Obaseki, Toyota, Yamaha, Mitsubishi, others plan investment in Edo

    Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has met with executives representing Mitsubishi, Sojitz, Toyota, Sumitomo, Yamaha, Yokogawa, Panasonic and the Japanese Trade Organisation (JETRO) to plan potential investments in Edo State and assure them of availability of resources.

    The meeting held in Lagos.

    He added that the state had developed a database of unemployed young people in the state, which the Japanese could tap into, adding that Edo’s proximity to Lagos and Port Harcourt could also be utilised to develop a lucrative trade route.

    Edo North, explained Obaseki, was rich in solid minerals, such as limestone for cement production and fertile soil for cocoa production; while Edo South and Edo Central were good for maize, cassava, rubber and palm production. All these complemented an onshore gas reserve located at Oben near Benin City where some critical national assets such as power installation passed through the state.

    On power, the governor disclosed that Edo would be contributing 900 additional megawatts to the national grid through the 450MW Azura power plant and the 450MW National Integrated Power Plant (NIPP) project in Benin city.

    He explained to them that the state government had signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Ossiomo power in Ologbo to supply uninterrupted power to all the government buildings located in the Sapele Road axis of the city.

    Obaseki said security would not be a problem, as the state was in a collaboration with the police to curb isolated incidences of crime in and around the state.

    Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria Sadanobu Kusaoke appreciated the sincerity and sense of responsibility of Edo State government, insisting that the Japanese were interested in collaborating with the Obaseki-led administration to expand the economy and create employment.

  • Massilia Motors becomes Mitsubishi sole distributor

    Massilia Motors Limited has announced its position as the sole distributor of Mitsubishi Motors in Nigeria.
    The company is a joint venture (JV) of CFAO and Kewalram Chanrai Group.
    Massilia Motors will provide customers with Mitsubishi Motors passenger cars, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), pick-ups, spare parts and after-sales services across the country.
    The head office on Ijora Causeway, Ijora, Lagos is a major after-sales hub with a fully equipped workshop and qualified technicians.
    The company’s vision is to become the nation’s leading automotive distributor with delivery of world-class customer service.
    In addition, Massilia Motors is set to ensure effective talent management that will result in motivated and customer-oriented employees.
    The modern flagship showroom on Adeola Odeku Street, Victoria Island, Lagos and the new Mitsubishi Motors website are steps taken to show the company’s commitment to revitalise the brand’s image in Nigeria.
    Speaking at a briefing, its Managing Director Mr Thomas Pelletier said: “The Massilia advantage is that we do not only sell cars, we consider our customers as stakeholders and provide solutions tailored to their needs. From counsel on the best product for each use to establishing a maintenance plan, we follow the customer through the product life cycle to ensure good value and a longer life span.’’
    A range of Mitsubishi Motors vehicles is available with compact cars, sports utility vehicles and pick-up trucks with renowned models, such as the Pajero and L200.
    The Japanese car manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors is known for the reliability and ruggedness of its products. With Massilia Motors Ltd, the brand aims to exceed customers’ expectations thanks to skilled technicians trained.

  • Mitsubishi to launch Thai-made Attrage

    Mitsubishi Motors will, by April, sell the Attrage compact sedan it started making last year in Thailand in other Southeast Asian countries. The company also plans to offer the car in the Middle East and Africa, the company sources said.

    The firm sets expanding sales in emerging countries as its most important business goal. To that end, Mitsubishi Motors is trying to broaden the scope of inexpensive compacts for sale in those markets.

    The Thai-built Attrage is the company’s second global strategic compact sedan, after the Mirage, which became a big hit in Thailand. Built on the same platform as the Mirage, the Attrage has 1.2-liter engine and offers fuel economy of 22km per liter, thanks to improved technology in the transmission and other areas.

    Since its debut in Thailand last July, about 16,000 units have been sold, with an affordable price of less than 1.5 million yen ($14,250) wowing Thai consumers.

    With strong demand expected among middle-income drivers in neighbouring countries, Mitsubishi Motors will ship the sedan to the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. To lower costs, production will be concentrated at the firm’s third Thai plant, which went on line last year.

    Mitsubishi Motors will market the Attrage using existing dealership networks in the Philippines and Indonesia, and also the networks it has jointly developed with trading house Mitsubishi Corporatio.

    The company aims to sell a total of 39,000 Attrages in the year ending March 31, including sales in Thailand.

    The move is part of the firm’s efforts to grow sales in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and other emerging markets by 20 per cent in fiscal year. It plans to release the Attrage in North America as well.

    Under its medium-term plan starting in fiscal 2014, Mitsubishi Motors intends to focus business resources on selected areas. In terms of vehicle types, the company will try to enhance its lineup of fuel-efficient compacts and sport utility vehicles in hope of boosting brand recognition.

  • Mitsubishi to launch Thai-made Attrage

    Mitsubishi Motors will, by April, sell the Attrage compact sedan it started making last year in Thailand in other Southeast Asian countries. The company also plans to offer the car in the Middle East and Africa, the company sources said.

    The firm sets expanding sales in emerging countries as its most important business goal. To that end, Mitsubishi Motors is trying to broaden the scope of inexpensive compacts for sale in those markets.

    The Thai-built Attrage is the company’s second global strategic compact sedan, after the Mirage, which became a big hit in Thailand. Built on the same platform as the Mirage, the Attrage has 1.2-liter engine and offers fuel economy of 22km per liter, thanks to improved technology in the transmission and other areas.

    Since its debut in Thailand last July, about 16,000 units have been sold, with an affordable price of less than 1.5 million yen ($14,250) wowing Thai consumers.

    With strong demand expected among middle-income drivers in neighbouring countries, Mitsubishi Motors will ship the sedan to the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. To lower costs, production will be concentrated at the firm’s third Thai plant, which went on line last year.

    Mitsubishi Motors will market the Attrage using existing dealership networks in the Philippines and Indonesia, and also the networks it has jointly developed with trading house Mitsubishi Corporatio.

    The company aims to sell a total of 39,000 Attrages in the year ending March 31, including sales in Thailand.

    The move is part of the firm’s efforts to grow sales in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and other emerging markets by 20 per cent in fiscal year. It plans to release the Attrage in North America as well.

    Under its medium-term plan starting in fiscal 2014, Mitsubishi Motors intends to focus business resources on selected areas. In terms of vehicle types, the company will try to enhance its lineup of fuel-efficient compacts and sport utility vehicles in hope of boosting brand recognition.