Steve Parker Motoring / The Car Nut

CARLOS GHOSN "GOIN' HOME" --- HE'S NOW THE 'FORMER NISSAN CHIEF' AND SHOULD HAVE STAYED QUIET, AND IN LOS ANGELES

Carlos Ghosn (photo) was nothing short of "the savior" of Nissan, we were all told. As the head man at Renault when that French company took a controlling interest in Japan's then-and-still- teetering Nissan (an industry first, we must add), Ghosn's moves in Japan made him something of a national hero (or at least a national curiousity; in that way that it is "cute" for 'gaijin' [foreigners, literally barbarians] to do certain things in Japan, as long as they eventually leave the country). He closed factories, laid-off workers, canceled new models and demanded more and better new ones --- and the Japanese public seemed to love it --- A westerner daring to take on Japanese industry and culture, much like Mark Fields, now VP of Ford, had done when he was running Mazda for FoMoCo several years ago. Now comes word that the Renault Board of Directors has evidently had enough of Ghosn playing the automotive superstar, moving him back to France to run Renault --- only.

Here's how AUTOMOTIVE NEWS reported it:

"Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan Motor Co., is swapping some of his duties as part of a broad annual management shuffle at the Japanese carmaker.

Ghosn, 53, who also is CEO of Renault SA, no longer will have direct oversight of Nissan's operations in North and South America. But he will take over responsibilities for the treasury department from COO Toshiyuki Shiga, 53.

Nissan does not have a CFO, and financial duties likely will soak up any freed-up time Ghosn might gain by dropping direct responsibilities for the Americas.

Hiroto Saikawa, 53, will replace Ghosn as chairman of Nissan's management committee for the Americas. Saikawa currently is Nissan's executive vice president for purchasing.

The changes will take effect April 1.

"The priority for our new management team is to act decisively on the multiple challenges facing Nissan and to boost our overall performance in 2007," Ghosn said in a written statement.

Dropping oversight for the United States and the rest of the Americas should save Ghosn considerable travel time. Officially, as CEO of both companies, he splits his time between Nissan and Renault. But he spends about one week a month in the United States. (Photo - One of the first Nissans, modeled after UK Morris cars which had been imported to Japan in boxes and later assembled in Japan; known as "knock-down kits").

Ghosn won't be in America monthly now, but "don't expect he won't be visiting the U.S. anymore," says Nissan spokesman Simon Sproule.

The task at hand in the United States is enormous. Nissan has fallen far short of its previous bold predictions of double-digit monthly sales growth since October. Saikawa, who has a reputation inside Nissan as a taskmaster, is expected to crack the whip in the United States."

OK, that's the official version. Here's what is really happening:

The corporate folks have had it with Ghosn and his (loud and numerous) proclamations. They are not even leaving him in the US long enough to enjoy the soon-to-come sales boost for Nissan from their all-new Altima hybrid and especially the fantastic new two-door (2008 model year) Sentra coupe and much-anticipated high-performance/low-cost Sentra SE-R sedan models (all designed in the US at Nissan Design International in La Jolla, CA).

First, Ghosn should have kept his mouth in-check when talking about hybrids and other alt-fuel vehicles. For years he has taken every opportunity to attack them, specifically gas-electric hybrids, while competitor Toyota was selling them faster than they could make them, especially for the US market. So what happens? To no one's surprise, Nissan licenses (buys) the Toyota technology for their own hybrid and voila ... At the LA Auto Show this year, the "all-new Nissan Altima Hybrid" is introduced, using Toyota technology. Not good for Carlos. (Photo - Nissan Altima hybrid).

Then, what's become known in the So Cal area simply as "the move". After more than 40 years of being located in southern California, generally recognized as the "hotbed" of automotive development for the world (there's a reason every major auto company in the world has a design studio, at the least, within 75 miles of downtown Los Angeles, but this must have somehow escaped Ghosn ... Oh, wait ... The Nissan Design studio in La Jolla will remain --- for now), was just too expensive for Ghosn to justify, we guess.

So he moved all the execs to ... Nashville, TN, that other hotbed of automotive styling, design and performance ... If you have a more than passing interest in how Bobby Geneene and her boy, Lucas Kyle, think the new GM pickups should look like ... The move will gain Nissan a bunch of cash --- They own literally acres of buildings throughout Los Angeles and Orange Counties --- But already the company has lost well over 50% of the men and women who developed Nissan into the brand and brand-name it has become (not to mention making the American public forget the name DATSUN, no small feat in itself). Most of the employees chose to stay in LA without a job, rather than move to Nashville (huh?) with one, and a promised pay raise for everyone who did make the move.

Just the latest not in Ghosn's great favor: Nissan announced just this past week that they will not put effort or dollars into developing a "Heavy Duty" version of their already-pretty-heavy-duty but poor-selling Titan. Nissan did announce, also this week, that they have completed an off-road test track at their Japanese test facility. Maybe now they have little reason to ever use it, other than to show it off to visiting journalists. And that's not to mention the minivan, the Quest, which has never caught-on with buyers and is being completely reworked for its next iteration, which will be out in 2008 or before (in other words, as fast as Nissan execs can approve it and get it built). (Photo - New Nissan Sentra SE-R).

There's more, including Ghosn's obviously brusque manner which managed to rub everybody the wrong way, Japanese, Euros, Americans ... you name the group, he angered or embarrassed them, or both.

What's next? It's probably impossible to hope that Nissan returns to So Cal, but they haven't sold their buildings yet, as far as we know, so nothing is really impossible at this point.  Perhaps the new Sentras and Altima hybrid will produce enough cash for Nissan to bring the company back to Los Angeles. Or perhaps not.

MUSTANG SALES DROPPING LIKE A ROCK --- HOW LONG CAN "ICON" CARS KEEP SAVING THE DOMESTICS, ESPECIALLY IN LOTS OF 1,000?

Mustang is in trouble. Sales dropping by nearly 20% since the start of the year does not bode well for FoMoCo (which earlier this week sold-off their Aston Martin division --- Amid questions of why they ever bought it in the first place), nor for all the remaining US-made domestics. Mustang remains the American car which went from 0 to 100,000 sales faster than any other, and still holds that record. Introduced at the 1964 New York World's Fair's Ford Pavilion (I know --- I was there), Mustang has remained true to its four-seat, two-door original since that time. Always good for 40,000-or-so sales a year, when Ford announced a plan to kill-off this original pony car a few years ago, consumer reaction was swift and brutal towards the offices at "One American Road" (Ford's HQ in Dearborn, MI) --- 'Lose the Mustang', they said, 'and lose us as Ford buyers --- forever'. Now there's talk of the Mustang platform being used as the underpinning for a station wagon and a four-door sedan (neither of which would be named Mustang), and that may be the only way to justify continued manufacture of the sporty coupe --- by using the platform for other models.

The new Mustang, which made its debut in the fall of 2004, has been a bright spot for Ford at a time when bright spots have been few. So when Mustang sales dropped by 19% in January and February compared with the same months in 2006, executives became concerned.

After all, this is the company which was late-to-market with their all-new Edge model (photo), touted as the  company's crossover-style "savior", and which has had to re-name the also all-new (and boring) 500 as "Taurus" to try and save that effort. The "new" Taurus may share some underpinnings with the Volvo S80, but come on --- No matter how many Volvos they may show at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, where speed and excitement is the entry price, Volvo still virtually screams "Don't notice me!". The Taurus-500 manages to achieve that target magnificently. If Ford ever needed another high-performance "SHO" Taurus, this is it, folks! Are you listening, Dearborn?

Another marketing problem Ford has currently in the US is that they were selling a very nice crossover (built-off the Taurus-500) SUV called "Freestyle" which matched-up closely in many ways to their Edge. But Ford has stopped making Freestyle, concentrating all their efforts on Edge manufacture and sales. Freestyle owners --- You may have a classic in your driveway there!

Competition for the Mustang is only going to get worse when Dodge resurrects the Challenger muscle car in 2008 and Chevrolet comes out with the new Camaro early in 2009 (See photos below; Challenger is orange, Camaro is silver). An all-new Mustang is due 2010, a year after the new Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger launch.

Which raises perhaps the ultimate question when it comes to these "retro-retreads": How long can the US domestics keep drawing on their past to try and pad their future bottom lines? With gas prices this week over $3 a gallon nationwide, how many people are going to buy a high-performance V8? Plenty, you say. Well, be sensible --- if plenty is less than 40,000 or so annually, that simply will not be enough to satisfy Ford, GM and DCX (or whatever Chrysler is called next week).

Selling these kind of specialty cars 1,000 at a time? Fuggedaboutit. The Fromer Big Three manufacturers simply can not afford to do it.

How many vehicles equate to "40,000"? That's about the entire production for Porsche (cars, not trucks) in a year, worldwide.

The platforms for these "retro-retreads" are going to have to be used in several other vehicles at minimum to justify these "special retro editions" making any sense at all financially for the Former Big Three. If people don't mind driving an all-new rip-roaring Challenger when the station wagon version pulls up next to them at the stoplight, then some of these cars might be winners.

Remember, GM, Ford and DCX simply do not have the "fun money" to bring out fun/toy vehicles like the Toyota FJ Cruiser or no less than two versions of the Nissan Sentra SE-R models, cars and trucks which might be considered collectible or at least "interesting" to future buyers.

A drop in Mustang sales should be a worry for Ford. Overall U.S. sales slipped 8% last year. The  company sold 160,975 Mustangs in 2005 and 166,530 in 2006, big numbers in the mid-size sports coupe market, a segment considered to be a niche.

Still, Ford is working desperately to keep the Mustang fresh with new variations to try and keep the car exciting, as well as gearing up new promotions heading into the spring and summer, traditionally the Mustang's best sales months. The company just began shipping new versions of a Shelby GT Mustang, and sometime next year, it plans a dark-green "Bullitt" version reminiscent of the 1968 Fastback Mustang GT that Steve McQueen drove in the classic movie.

Insiders who've seen styling mockups report the 2007 Bullitt (photo) features a plain grille without galloping pony badge or spotlights and a black-painted panel between the taillights, just like McQueen's '68. Naturally, the car will be available in Highland Green.

More significant, though, might be the new Boss, which will introduce Ford's all-new 5.0-liter Hurricane V-8. Due late in the year, the limited-edition Boss will get a tuned 425- to 435-horsepower version of the Hurricane, a stripped-down interior (though air-conditioning will be available), and less sound deadening. The idea is to replicate the original Boss Mustang's race-special feel. Only 1000 cars will be built.

Slightly detuned from Boss spec, the Hurricane will become the regular GT's engine in 2008, when the Mustang will get a major face-lift. Insiders report every exterior panel is to be changed and updated, with the base cars getting a more aggressive look similar to that of the current Shelby GT500. The GT500, meantime, will become even more extreme looking.

Ford's other remaining icon, the F-series pickup truck, also has seen its sales drop and is facing heavy competition from General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp.

NEWS OF THE WEEK AND THE WEIRD

While we all wait for Daimler to sell Chrysler and Ford to sell Aston-Martin (can anyone remember a week when two world-famous car companies were on the public auction block at the same time?), let's catch-you-up with other news from the world of cars and auto racing ... There's plenty going on, and a lot of it you need to know to be considered "knowledgeable" at the water cooler ...

SAY IT AIN'T SO! NO SENSIBLY-PRICES BUGATTIS!? Thomas Bscher has resigned from his leadership post at Bugatti. It all involves Herr Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn recently being moved from Audi to Bugatti (also a VW brand). Franz-Josef Paefgen, VW's Brand Manager, take his place. This management shift pretty much puts the final nail in the coffin of any future Bugatti model (Photo - Bugatti Veyron, $1.6 mil a copy), as it appears Paefgen will also be in-charge of that other VW brand, Bentley, and VW sells a bunch o' more o' WO Bentley cars than their ridiculous Bugatti Veyron model (one of which was recently wrecked on a public road in the UK).The VW group, if nothing else, is always good for stories of back-stabbing and back-room politics. That trend, at least, continues...

INDY LEGEND ALL BUT GONE; MOTORCYCLES ARE NEXT ON THE ROAD COURSE. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, having given-up on their tradition-laden "Month of May" spectacles  surrounding the Indy 500 (Photo - Schumacher at Indy in Ferrari red), is trying to attract a Moto GP race to their august facility. The only way the bikes will run at Indy would be on the existing F1 track with its twists and turns and use of turn three and the track's main straight --- And if this happens (and Indy is probably the only track in North America with the money and facilities and prestige to draw  a Moto GP event), then you can almost count on the USGP F1 event running counterclockwise, too...

VW'S BIG OL' TEUTONIC PHAETON COMING TO US --- AGAIN!? More on VW: Their Phaeton might make a return to the US. Hard to believe it will hit this nation running with anything resembling the $70,000-or-so price tag it carried on some iterations. It's a fantastic, fun car --- But VW has a division named Audi to sell cars in this price class.

CARS WE CAN'T WAIT FOR, UH, I MEAN: TWO CARS WE CAN'T WAIT FOR! Nissan has announced pricing for its Sentra SE-R models. These throwbacks to the first days of the "rice rocket invasion" of the early-'80s promise to be a heck of a ride, and Nissan is making two different SE-Rs available, Sentra SE-R and SE-R Spec V (2007 model seen in photo). Your basic SE-R starts out at $19,400. That includes a 177-horsepower 2.5L four-cylinder engine and Nissan's Xtronic CVTO transmission. SE-R Spec V can be had for only $500 more and boasts a 200-horsepower version of the same motor and a 6-speed manual transmission, bigger brakes and tires and a sportier suspension than the SE-R model.

PORSCHE ENTERS DRIFTING; DOES ANYONE IN STUTTGART KNOW ABOUT THIS? Hankook Tires will debut a drifting Porsche 993 car at the Formula D season-opener as a companion event to the Long Beach Grand Prix on April 7th. The car features a 600-hp motor (with Hankook Ventus R-S2 rubber, see photo). Since Porsche carries so much weight over its rear axle, the rear suspension has been allowed to have been softened so it can "squat" for better traction. It will be driven by Tyler McQuarrie.

HIPPIE-CHICK-LOOKING ACTRESS DRIVING HONDA'S FCX. American Honda has handed the keys to their latest fuel cell-powered car to 17-year-old actress Q'orianka Kilcher (see photo), who was in the 2005 film "The New World." Honda says their zero-emissions Honda FCX is not simply a car of the future, but a real world vehicle on the road today that has met all applicable federal safety standards. A hydrogen-powered vehicle with zero emissions, the Honda FCX represents one of the most important transportation solutions and the ultimate in clean mobility for the future, says American Honda.

CLEAN DIESEL: CALL IT TDI, BLUETEC, WHATEVER ... IT IS THE FUTURE. FOR AWHILE, ANYWAY. On its new Touareg, Volkswagen introduces one of the cleanest diesel engines in the world, say the VW PR folks: The BlueTDI with SCR catalytic converter. This converter reduces nitrogen dioxide (NOx) emissions by up to 90 percent. The Volkswagen Touareg BlueTDI meets even California, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont and Maine standard. The Touareg BlueTDI being presented this week in Geneva is one of the first vehicles with a diesel engine that can clear all those state's hurdles, too, says VW. Economical turbo-diesels like the V6 BlueTDI can contribute, more than any other current powertrain technology, toward reducing oil consumption and the generation of climate-impacting greenhouse gases. We tend to agree. These clean diesels might well be the best mid-range solutions to America's oil consumption.

"OH, NO. LET ME DRIVE FOR YOU." RALF LENDS HIS JET TO TOYOTA F1. In a last minute dash to improve Toyota's so far uncompetitive 2007 racer, the TF107, Ralf Schumacher has reportedly donated the use of his private jet. While the Japanese squad run for two final days at the Jerez circuit this week, the 31-year-old has apparently told team chiefs that they can use his new plane to ferry updated parts from the Cologne factory to their Spanish test location. Toyota's technical boss Pascal Vasselon is quoted as saying by the newspaper Express that 'It is an admirable offer.'

CAN'T WIN FOR LOSING --- SAVING GAS RUINS THE ROADWAYS? America's growing love affair with energy-efficient cars is starting to take a toll on the nation's crumbling highways and roads, says the Detroit News. Requiring fewer fill-ups at the pumps, the vehicles are putting a pinch on the federal Highway Trust Fund -- the major government funding source for highway and mass transit projects. And federal officials say the fund, financed by a federal tax on gasoline, is careening toward a deficit within two years. To be fair, federal officials say, it's not just energy-efficient autos that are sucking the fund dry. There are also higher construction costs, congressional overspending and an aging highway system.