Sometimes honesty is the best policy…

Ever since Patrick Pelata took the fall at Renault after the botched spy scandal, the position of COO and deputy of Carlos Ghosn had been vacant. Now, there are strong indications from Paris that the job will go to Carlos Tavares, currently chief of Nissan’s Americas unit. Read More >

Today’s sign of the times comes courtesy of the world of social media, and calls into question some of our most basic assumptions about the world of cars. France, it seems, experienced a 12.8% increase in on-road fatalities in the first quarter of this year, and the New York Times reports that the French government is responding by banning devices that scan the road ahead for speed camera radar waves.

A decade ago, the death rate on French roads was among the worst in Europe, and the government reacted in 2002 with what some drivers called repressive tactics. Radar cameras were erected at intersections throughout the country, which captured a motorist’s license plate if the car surpassed the speed limit by more than 5 kilometers an hour (3 m.p.h.), deducted points off a motorist’s license and sent a fine through the mail.

The measures were deemed successful. The International Transport Forum said France achieved a reduction of 47 percent in its road-death toll in the first decade of the century, relative to the 1990s. The ministerial report said the average speed in France also dropped 10 kilometers an hour since 2002, or 11.7 percent.

The radar cameras, however, spawned a thriving market in radar-warning devices. According to AFFTAC, 5.1 million drivers in France use them. Under the new law, users would face fines of up to 1,500 euros, or about $2,100.

The French government’s decision to not only ban radar detectors, but also to remove signs warning motorists of fixed radar cameras has generated some serious backlash. Apparently over 80,000 people “liked” the Facebook page of AFFTAC, a group opposing the measures and calling for nationwide protests, over the course of two days. By comparison, the most optimistic count of hand-raisers for a possible future Chevy El Camino is “possibly as high as 18,000 people.” Call us crazy, but we thought America’s oft-cited “love affair with the automobile” would have created some slightly different results.

Further on today’s results conference at Nissan, I could regale (or most likely bore) you with what you will hear from just about any Japanese carmaker, and possibly from non-Japanese carmakers as well: Last year was a good year, the March 11 tsunami makes this year a challenging year, but what will not kill us makes us stronger, and in ancient China, crisis and opportunity were one and the same.

Now this is Nissan and Carlos Ghosn who has bet a farm in France and one in Japan on the future of the electric car. Ghosn made a few points today that are well worth noting. He talked about nukes, CO2, blackouts – and batteries.

Read More >

Our man in Brazil has been sharing his love of the Citroen DS line of late, and in the process he’s managed to coax more than a few fans of Citroen’s funky “anti-retro” experiment out of the closet. Of course, the Citroen love has also drawn out a few detractors, who criticize the DS line’s out-there looks, the brand’s weak links to the glorious DS past, or the overall Frenchness of the whole thing. And with the latest installment in Citroen’s ongoing love note to French automotive savoire faire, the DS5, Citroen isn’t shying away from the controversy. Just introduced in Shanghai, the DS5 is funkier, freakier and, well, Frencher than ever, all while bringing the DS line into its most practical application to date. And with Peugeot’s diesel-hybrid drivetrain in which the rear wheels are driven electrically (lowering drivetrain complexity and weight), the DS5 even has a hint of the old-school Citroen creativity in its engineering. Fans of the French car, it’s time to let your freak flags fly.

It seems that my recent article on Citroën’s anti-retro retro-inspired car, the DS3, provoked two kinds of reactions: admiration and understanding, but also rejection and some even thought Citroën was simply being cynical in its use of the much storied DS moniker. What was hinted at with the DS3 becomes much more evident in the DS4’s case. With it Citroën may well have stumbled on a modern classic, not to mention a way forward for retro-inspired cars. Read More >

Au contraire to VW’s New Beetle, BMW’s Mini, Chrysler’s Pt Cruiser and Fiat’s Cincuecento, Citroën is reviving the fabled DS name as a marque, one that intends to impress on consumers a very Gallic flair for sophistication and elegance. With the launch of the DS3, Citroën is showing a new direction for retro-inspired cars. One that points to the future, while keeping a link to the past of luxury of one of the most intriguing and desirable models in the history of all cars, the DS. Produced in the 60s and 70s, the DS impressed everyone with its different kind of beauty and many a mechanical innovation. Now, it can impress again. Read More >

Nobody who knows the business a little thinks the consequences the March 11 earthquake and tsunami will be isolated to Toyota and a little Honda. Renault is joined both at the top and at the hip with Nissan. Renault warned today that its French operation could be affected – albeit in a roundabout way. Read More >

Many equate China with smoke and soot belching cars. In reality, China’s emission and fuel consumption standards now generally follow the European roadmap. Implementation of standards trails the European role model by only a few years. Ironically, it is a European brand that just ran afoul of this misperception – if Chinese media is correctly informed. Read More >

The extraordinary board meeting at Renault has ended. The spy scandal most likely has also ended. CEO Carlos Ghosn remains firmly in charge. Below him, one of the largest revirements in the peacetime of a car company. This is what TTAC has developed from sources in Paris: Read More >

Renault has scheduled an extraordinary board meeting for today, Monday, French media reports. The meeting will deal with the spy scandal that turned out to be a fraud. On Sunday, France’s Journal Du Dimanche speculated that the heads of COO Patrick Pelata, legal affairs chief Christian Husson, HR chief Jean-Yves Coudriou and security chief Remi Pagnie could be on the block after they were implicated in a letter from jail, written by Dominique Gevrey. The investigator had been hired by Renault, and was subsequently arrested on suspicions of fraud. Read More >

Caution: This Nikkei story has been debunked by Nissan.

Often considered, more than often denied, now it’s on the table again: Nissan and Renault, having lived in an open relationship with a joint CEO since 1999, could move under the umbrella of a common holding company. Joint CEO Carlos Ghosn told that to The Nikkei [sub] late Wednesday night in Yokohama. The managements of Nissan and Renault seem convinced that this is the way to go. However, there is a lot of work to be done before the wedding will become official. Read More >

Renault has had quite a bit of success in recent years with its budget-brand Dacia, prompting Peugeot-Citroen to reach back into its bag of abandoned brands for a name to put behind its own low-cost car offerings. Having briefly considered the Talbot name, it seems that PSA has settled on something a little more modern and relevant to low-cost offerings: Simca. Which makes quite a bit of sense, if you think about it. Rather than naming a budget brand after the makers of hugely expensive pre-WWII luxury cars (a trick Chrysler tried once already with the Horizon), PSA can reference one of the most influential (if forgotten) small-car brands. At least, it can if it deals with that most modern of problems, the patent troll. AutoBild reports

Joachim W. “Simca” signed in September 2007 at the German Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark for the class “cars”. Then a cancellation request was made ​​- probably by Peugeot. The French made at least one attempt to register Simca on 2 June 2008, whereupon Joachim W. submitted an application for cancellation.

It’s not clear what claim Mr Simca might have on the name, as SIMCA stands for Société Industrielle de Mécanique et Carrosserie Automobile.

The French government has its hands full pounding Gadaffi’s tanks and artillery pieces into pulp. At the same time, the French government decided not to destabilize carmaker Renault. French Industry Minister Eric Besson said the latter part when he was asked whether he’s calling for Carlos Ghosn’s head after the espionage scandal had turned into a farce.

“As industry minister, I hear the voice of the people asking for punishment, but the industry minister’s greater concern at this time is not to destabilize Renault any further,” Besson told RFI radio ( via Reuters) in an interview. Read More >

It appears that the Renault EV espionage case crazy train has rolled to a halt, as the FT reports that CEO Carlos Ghosn and his right-hand-man Patrick Pélata have apologized to the three executives they accused of spying. According to a Renault press release,

Mr Ghosn and Mr Pélata now plan to meet the executives, promising compensation for “serious prejudice” to their reputations and careers

And according to BusinessWeek, Mr Pélata will likely be offering his resignation today, as

Renault called an emergency board meeting for 4 p.m. local time that may lead to sanctions against managers involved in the case, two people familiar with the matter said. Prosecutors yesterday issued “organized fraud” charges against Dominique Gevrey, the security chief whose internal investigation led to the firing of upstream development chief Michel Balthazard and two other executives.

But, as AN [sub]’s James Treece puts it, Pélata likely won’t stay unemployed for long, as being fired for loyalty is almost a positive in the super-competitive world of high-level auto executives. The mystery now: did Mr Gevrey simply attempt to defraud Renault, or was he part of a coordinated effort to destabilize the French automaker? Gevrey won’t reveal the source of his information about espionage inside Renault, but we may yet learn more about this strange farce if he cracks under investigation.

[UPDATE via AN [sub]: Ghosn and Pélata plan to give up their 2010 bonuses and profits from 2011 stock options after they had to apologize publicly to the three men earlier on Monday, Renault said in a statement.]