JAPAN ASKS U.S. TO EXTRADITE MEN ACCUSED OF HELPING CARLOS GHOSN FLEE

Japan has formally asked the United States to extradite a former Green Beret and his son accused of helping former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn flee the country while he was awaiting trial on financial charges. Japan submitted a request to the U.S. State Department to extradite Michael Taylor and his son, Peter Taylor, after they were provisionally arrested in Massachusetts in May, the U.S. Justice Department said in a court filing on Thursday.

Lawyers for the Taylors did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Their lawyers have argued that they have not been charged in Japan with an offense for which extradition is possible under the U.S-Japan treaty.

The Japanese embassy in Washington and U.S. Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.

The Taylors were arrested in Harvard, Mass., on May 20 at Japan's request after authorities there in January accused them of helping smuggle Ghosn, Nissan's former chairman, out of the country on Dec. 29, 2019, in a box. Ghosn fled to Lebanon, his childhood home, after being charged with engaging in financial wrongdoing, including by understating his compensation in Nissan's financial statements. He denies wrongdoing.

Lebanon has no extradition treaty with Japan.

Source: Reuters

AUTOMOTIVE BRAND VALUES

Manufacturer  

Brand Value    

% Change in Value

2020 vs. 2019

Toyota

28,388 

-3%

Mercedes-Benz

21,349

-9%

 BMW 

20,517

-12%

 Tesla

11,350

+22%

 Ford

10,067 

-10%

 Honda

9,974

 -15%

 Nissan

8,658 

-18%

 Audi 

7,334 

-14%

 Volkswagen

6,462

-4%

Porsche

5,606 

-4%

Several interesting observations:

  • Profitability seems to  be a small factor in determining the Brand Value
  • Ford - Is this ranking due to its historic dominance in the pickup truck market and how long will that position continue?

Other points that could impact the longer term value of these manufactures include the transition to EVs and the infrastructure need to support them, which is currently lagging everywhere but in China.

Source: BrandZ/Kantar/Bloomberg

DEALERS REEVALUATE AD SPENDING IN PANDEMIC

Franchised dealerships spent an average of $554,292 on advertising in 2019, or $640 for each new vehicle retailed, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association. The average spend through the first two months of 2020 outpaced the same months in 2019, but the figure dipped in March and slid even more sharply in April, the most recent month for which data has been reported. Through the first four months, advertising expenses slid 14 percent, NADA reported.

Source: Automotive News

NADA MARKET BEAT: JUNE VEHICLE SALES INCREASED TO 13 MILLION SAAR

New light-vehicle sales in June improved compared to May but remain down significantly compared to this time last year. The June SAAR of 13.05 million units represents a 7% increase compared to May, but the June sales rate represents a decline of 24% compared to June 2019.

Source: NADA

COURT OVERTURNS ORDER TO HAVE GM, FIAT CHRYSLER CHIEFS MEET

An appeals court on Monday said the CEOs of General Motors and Fiat Chrysler don't have to meet to settle a lawsuit between the two automakers. The court overturned an extraordinary decision by a federal judge in Detroit who had ordered GM's Mary Barra and FCA's Mike Manley to get together and settle a dispute over FCA's alleged role in corruption by union leaders. The appeals court said U.S. District Judge Paul Borman abused his discretion by singling out Barra and Manley and setting other conditions.

Source: AP

GM SUFFERS BLOW IN BID TO PUNISH FIAT CHRYSLER OVER UNION BRIBES

General Motors Co.'s efforts to take a rival to task for allegedly inflating its labor costs suffered a major blow with the dismissal of its racketeering lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV. General Motors failed to show that it was directly harmed by bribes Fiat Chrysler paid to union officials over more than a decade, a federal judge in Detroit ruled on Wednesday. GM claimed Fiat Chrysler got better labor contracts than competing automakers by paying off the United Auto Workers in a scheme that raised GM's expenses by billions of dollars.

Source: Bloomberg

CORONAVIRUS REDRAWS WORLD CAR MAP

The global auto market is splitting three ways, complicating efforts by the industry's main players to recover from their deepest crisis in years. While sales in post-lockdown China are showing signs of recovery, they are continuing to fall in the U.S., according to company and industry data released in recent weeks. The data also show that Europe is becoming the world's weakest-performing auto market. This lopsided recovery is putting extra stress on an industry that was already struggling with softening demand and soaring technology costs before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Source: Wall Street Journal

20 LUCID STUDIO TO BE OPEN BY FALL 2021

Ahead of an official reveal and full details for the Lucid Air electric luxury sedan-due to be shown and detailed on September 9-California's Lucid Motors has offered more detail about how it plans to sell and service the Air and other future models.

On Wednesday, Lucid announced plans to open 20 retail stores-called Lucid Studios-by the end of 2021. In addition to the Silicon Valley Studio at Lucid's Newark, California headquarters, an initial round of eight locations due to open in 2020-prior to first deliveries in early 2021-will be in Beverly Hills, Century City, and San Jose, California; Miami and West Palm Beach, Florida; Manhattan, New York; and Tysons, Virginia.

One noteworthy omission in that initial round of Studios is Phoenix or Scottsdale, Arizona-near Lucid's assembly plant in Casa Grande.

Lucid's plan could be a good match for the times, as it says that customers will have the option to visit a Studio in person, keep queries completely online, or use a mix of the two.

In March, Lucid laid out its sales and service vision, which includes the use of its Studios as technology hubs, with virtual reality tours of the vehicle and more about aesthetic choices-which will revolve around what the company has previously described as "color and material themes that represent specific locations within the Golden State."

The pictures Lucid has included of its Studios show woodtones and soft lighting, and map them out as a sort of midpoint between stark, Apple-like Tesla stores and the lounge-like showrooms for prestige luxury brands.

Lucid hasn't outlined its service side to the same level of detail yet, but it has already announced one location in Beverly Hills and it confirmed to Green Car Reports that one can expect that any market where there's a Studio will also have a service center. Mobile service will be run by Lucid and operate directly out of service centers.

On the service side, Lucid says that it will have "a nationwide network of service centers, mobile service providers, and certified collision repair centers."

Further, in what sounds as an attempt to address a common Tesla issue up front, that it will have a centralized customer care group "to address anything that cannot be remotely diagnosed and repaired."

Source: Green Car Reports

ASTON MARTIN'S FIRST SUV ROLLS OFF PRODUCTION LINE

Aston Martin's first sport utility vehicle rolled off the production line on Thursday, key to hopes of a turnaround at the luxury carmaker which has seen changes in management and ownership over the last few months amid a torrid performance. Popular for being James Bond's carmaker of choice, the firm has had a difficult time since it floated in 2018 as sales disappointed and it burnt through cash, prompting it to seek fresh investment from billionaire Lawrence Stroll. Since then it has announced job cuts, is replacing its boss, and has picked a new finance chief among a series of changes as it also responds to the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: Reuters 

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