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Infiniti to expand lineup with 10 new vehicles by 2010

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Dave Guilford of Automotive News sat down with Carlos Tavares, Nissan MoCo's global product chief, and the fruits of his investigative labors revealed that Infiniti has big plans over the next three years. A product push that involves a number of new models and expansion of the Infiniti brand into 90-percent of the luxury markets globally are the cornerstone of the marque, with sales likely to begin in South Korea and Russia, along with Europe in the latter half of next year.

Product-wise, Infiniti intends to bring approximately 10 new vehicles to market by the end of the decade, and although Tavares was mum on specifics, he did state that more crossovers, a "sports-oriented" car and a flagship are all part of the future lineup.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

Infiniti to expand lineup with 10 new vehicles by 2010 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 19 Sep 2007 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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False Report? Carlos Ghosn not stepping aside as Nissan CEO

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According to a Nissan official, a report suggesting that Carlos Ghosn is stepping aside after more than decade at the helm of Nissan "is not true!" A local news site in Cool Springs, TN (near the automaker's North American headquarters) reported today that Ghosn, who is currently the CEO of both Nissan and French automaker Renault, plans to surrender the Nissan post to Carlo Tavares. Tavares is currently the Executive Vice President of Nissan Americas Operations.

Nissan spokeswoman Katherine Zachary emphatically told Autoblog that the Coolsprings.com report is "not true" but declined any further comment on the matter. Ghosn became Chief Operating Officer at Nissan in 1999 before later being named CEO. His leadership is largely credited with the brand's product resurgence in the past decade and saving it from bankruptcy. More recently, Ghosn has pushed both Nissan and Renault to produce large volumes of mainstream electric vehicles.

Just a few short months ago, Ghosn was re-elected to serve as the head of Renault for another four years. If we hear any more news on the matter, we'll dutifully pass it along.

[Source: Coolsprings.com]

False Report? Carlos Ghosn not stepping aside as Nissan CEO originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nissan Americas' Tavares becomes Renault COO on heels of spy scandal

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Carlos TavarasRenault has a new chief operating officer. Carlos Tavares, formerly the Chief Executive Officer for Nissan Americas, will now fill the void left by former Renault COO Patrick Pelata. Pelata left the French automaker amid a botched spy scandal investigation that saw a rash of Renault executives lose their positions. Taveres has a long history with Renault, having served with the company for 24 years before being assigned to the U.S. with Nissan Americas in 2003. His move back to Renault has been rumored for some time and the company hopes that its new executive can help point sales in a better direction.

Meanwhile, back in the U.S., Tavares' old role will be handled by many hands. Colin Dodge will serve as chairman of the Americas in addition to retaining his title as Executive Vice President, Chief Performance Officer and Chairman of Nissan operations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India. Dodge will be joined by Bill Krueger, who will now take up the mantle of Vice Chairman.

Krueger previously served as the Head of Manufacturing, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management for Nissan. TheDetroitBureau.com reports that Krueger will move farther up the chain should he be able to prove himself in his new role. Click past the break for a look at the full press release.

Continue reading Nissan Americas' Tavares becomes Renault COO on heels of spy scandal

Nissan Americas' Tavares becomes Renault COO on heels of spy scandal originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Renault's Initiale Paris luxe brand to get phased launch?

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The Renault Initiale Paris concept car from 1995 (pictured) became the company's Vel Satis flagship model that sold from 2002 to 2009 - although the Vel Satis did without the concept's detuned Formula One engine, a 392-horsepower, 3.5-liter Renault Sport RS6 V10, which might be why it never sold as well as desired. Renault has held on to the Initiale Paris name, though, using to denote the top trim on cars like the Laguna, Espace, Clio and even the dinky Modus supermini.

Renault doesn't have a bona fide flagship anymore, and but it has bigger plans for a replacement that just slotting a new model in. Automotive News reports that the French firm wants to expand its use of Initiale Paris, starting with an Initiale Paris line within the Renault range sporting added features and more luxury, eventually becoming its own luxury line just as Nissan has with Infiniti. It's not a short-term plan, however, with Chief Operating Officer Carlos Tavares pointing to the 25 years that it has taken Infiniti to reach its current level, so it could be the next decade before there is an Initiale Paris model range.

Intriguingly, a May report on website LeftLaneNews indicated that a Renault flagship is on the way in 2014 or 2015 and is being developed through the Renault-Nissan alliance with Daimler. Although the timeline is sketchy, the idea is bolstered by this statment made by Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn last year, "You'd be very surprised if in five or six years that Mercedes and Renault-Nissan had only cooperated on small cars." LeftLane's intel is that that "Renault will decide on whether or not to launch Initiale Paris before the end of the year," at the same time it decides the fate of Alpine.

Renault's Initiale Paris luxe brand to get phased launch? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Jul 2012 08:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Renault's planned luxury sub-brand gets reconsidered

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Renault believes there's enough Alpine love to restart that brand with its own model almost immediately. The launch of the Initiale Paris luxury brand it's been mulling, on the other hand, will be more restrained: a report in Autocar says that instead of launching with a first model based on the Mercedes E-Class architecture, Renault is going to introduce an Initiale Paris trim line on the new Clio and Espace. More accurately, that should be 're-introduce and aggressively market,' since Renault has used an Initiale Paris trim over the years since it introduced the concept car (pictured) in 1995, even as recently as the current-generation Laguna Coupe.

Other models will be added after the Clio and Espace, and when Renault can assess what kind of future the trim has, it will decide on the launch of a subsidiary brand. Company CEO Carlos Tavares said we shouldn't hang around waiting for a decision, though, declaring that establishing such a brand - if it even comes to that - "will be a job for at least my successor to worry about, not me."

Renault's planned luxury sub-brand gets reconsidered originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Mar 2013 08:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Renault COO Tavares dreams of running GM or Ford

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Renault Chief Operating Officer Carlos Tavares, pose for the photographers inside the new Renault Zoe Monday, Dec 17, 2012 in Paris. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)

What do you do if you're in a job with no upward mobility? Admittedly, most of us just stick it out while secretly hoping our boss is sacked for all those paperclips he's been swiping, netting us a nice, shiny promotion. Then again, most of us aren't the number two at Renault, like Carlos Tavares.

Tavares is the right-hand man to Renault CEO, Carlos Ghosn, and like a lot of us, he's ready for another challenge. As Ghosn is only 59 years old and doesn't have a boss to fire him for paperclip theft, though, it's pretty unlikely that he'll be going anywhere anytime soon. Tavares doesn't seem too concerned, based on an interview he gave to Automotive News. "We have a big leader and he is here to stay," Tavares told AN.

What's surprising is where Tavares wants to go, "Why not GM? I would be honored to lead a company like GM." The Renault exec also mentioned Ford, and as AN points out, both organizations make a lot of sense. Both are led by CEOs that are approaching or are already past retirement age, and should be looking for dedicated replacements in the not-so-distant future. That doesn't mean Tavares is a shoe-in, though.

At Ford, he'd be up against Mark Fields, the Blue Oval's current Chief Operating Officer, who is widely considered to be Alan Mullaly's ultimate replacement. Competition would be even stiffer for the top spot at GM, where Tavares would have to challenge both Mark Reuss and Mary Barra.

Tavares doesn't seem concerned about the competition, though. "GM may have other candidates who are good and if it doesn't happen, that's okay. I would consider other companies, but the Detroit companies have succession coming." He's right about that.

Renault COO Tavares dreams of running GM or Ford originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 16 Aug 2013 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Carlos Tavares steps down as Renault COO

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Carlos Tavares, outgoing COO of Renault

Renault has long been lead by two guys named Carlos. One is Carlos Ghosn, who presides as chairman and CEO not only over Renault, but also Nissan. That makes Ghosn one of the busiest guys in the business, and leaves Renault's day-to-day to the other Carlos - Carlos Tavares.

Or at least he did, until Tavares stepped down from his post as Chief Operating Officer, which he's held since May 2011. Renault only states that Tavares is leaving "in order to pursue other personal projects," but by personal, we assume they mean professional.

Tavares, as you may recall, made headlines recently by stating that he'd like to move to Michigan to run either General Motors or Ford. Which seemed a little odd at the time, considering that he'd be an outsider, but then Sergio Marchionne has been doing a pretty decent job of running Chrysler.

Continue reading Carlos Tavares steps down as Renault COO

Carlos Tavares steps down as Renault COO originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Aug 2013 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford board OK with Mulally stepping down earlier

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Ford Executive Compensation Dearborn

Ford's board is open to CEO Alan Mulally stepping down before his planned departure in 2014, inside sources are telling Reuters. Ford's plan of succession, aside from who would be his actual successor, has been something approaching common knowledge - the 68-year-old former Boeing exec had plans to stay through 2014. This was recently confirmed by Mulally himself on Bloomberg Television and in Automotive News.

Motivation for the about-face comes from what Reuters calls a "growing confidence" in the current crop of Ford execs, led by Mark Fields. Fields, Ford's current chief operating officer, has been tipped as Mulally's ultimate successor, although he's far from the only person with eyes on Ford's top job. Normally, Ford's board saying they're open to an executive, that's done very well for the company, stepping down early would be nearly unremarkable. It's the timing of this announcement, though, that makes this a big piece of news.

Recently, Mulally has been the subject of rumors that he's interested in taking the CEO position at tech giant Microsoft. The Redmond, Washington-based company's CEO, Steve Ballmer, told the media in August that he'd be retiring in a year's time. The fires were stoked when tech website AllThingsD speculated that Mulally would take the top spot, despite denials from the man himself. Could Ford's current boss become the new top dog at Microsoft? Will Mark Fields replace him? Could recently departed Renault exec Carlos Tavares land at Ford in some capacity? Let us know what you think below in Comments.

Ford board OK with Mulally stepping down earlier originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 Sep 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Carlos Tavares named CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroën

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Carlos Tavares

Carlos Tavares is a man of ambition. As well he should be, because you don't get to the top ranks of a major industrial group without it. But as chief operating officer of Renault, there was only so far he could go in the shadow of his boss Carlos Ghosn. So with an eye toward running a major automaker, Tavares left Renault a couple of months ago, expressing his desire to run an automaker like Ford or GM. Now Tavares has gotten what he wanted, but he won't have to move to Detroit to get it. Instead he's staying right there in France as the new head of PSA Peugeot Citroën.

The move was announced at the French automaker's headquarters in Paris as PSA aims to garner investment from China, prompting current chief executive Philippe Varin to step aside (whether voluntarily or otherwise) and make room for Tavares. Varin will for the time being keep the role he's held since 2009 as Tavares joins the managing board at the start of the year before taking its reins at some point thereafter.

Although PSA and its brands Peugeot and Citroën may not register much on our radar, since they don't participate in the North American market, the French group ranks as one of the largest automakers in the world. Its sales last year placed it as the eighth biggest producer of automobiles in the world (behind Toyota, GM, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Ford, Nissan and Honda) and a couple of positions ahead of Renault. So not only is this a step up for Tavares in terms of where he sits at the table, it's also a bigger table altogether.

Continue reading Carlos Tavares named CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroën

Carlos Tavares named CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroën originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 27 Nov 2013 09:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DS models to lose Citroen badging

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Citroen Divine DS Concept

The Citroën Divine DS Concept won't be the only model in the newly separated DS sub-brand to ditch its Chevrons. In fact, the entire DS line will go without the iconic badge, according to PSA Chairman Carlos Tavares.

The goal, Tavares told Autocar, was to continue to distance the DS line from the main Citroën brand and in turn, craft the group's offerings into premium challengers for Audi.

"From 2015 DS will be disconnected from Citroen. We don't need to have separate platforms, or even separate dealers, but we will have separate manufacturing and engineering standards," Tavares told Autocar. "DS can be an Audi rival by 2020. The products in the pipeline are extremely exciting but we are not just going into premium as we're not going to be fighting the Germans with the same weapons."

"We want to convey a French sophistication, trendiness and the French way of life. The Germans can't do this and we'll see some concept cars that will back this up," Tavares added.

Meanwhile, the styling of the Divine DS, which we'll be seeing in person at next month's Paris Motor Show, shows the way ahead for that sophistication and trendiness. Look for more on Citroën and the Divine DS in early October.

DS models to lose Citroen badging originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Sep 2014 08:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sacré bleu! PSA mulling moving Paris headquarters to cut costs

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PSA Peugeot Citroën has been based in its current offices, located less than half a mile from the iconic Arc de Triomphe in Paris, for a half century now. But the latest word has it that the French automaker is planning on leaving the historic location as part of its plans to cut costs.

Sacré bleu! PSA mulling moving Paris headquarters to cut costs originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Dec 2014 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Infiniti to expand lineup with 10 new vehicles by 2010

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Dave Guilford of Automotive News sat down with Carlos Tavares, Nissan MoCo's global product chief, and the fruits of his investigative labors revealed that Infiniti has big plans over the next three years. A product push that involves a number of new models and expansion of the Infiniti brand into 90-percent of the luxury markets globally are the cornerstone of the marque, with sales likely to begin in South Korea and Russia, along with Europe in the latter half of next year.

Continue reading Infiniti to expand lineup with 10 new vehicles by 2010

Infiniti to expand lineup with 10 new vehicles by 2010 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 19 Sep 2007 19:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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False Report? Carlos Ghosn not stepping aside as Nissan CEO

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According to a Nissan official, a report suggesting that Carlos Ghosn is stepping aside after more than decade at the helm of Nissan "is not true!" A local news site in Cool Springs, TN (near the automaker's North American headquarters) reported today that Ghosn, who is currently the CEO of both Nissan and French automaker Renault, plans to surrender the Nissan post to Carlo Tavares. Tavares is currently the Executive Vice President of Nissan Americas Operations.

Continue reading False Report? Carlos Ghosn not stepping aside as Nissan CEO

False Report? Carlos Ghosn not stepping aside as Nissan CEO originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nissan Americas' Tavares becomes Renault COO on heels of spy scandal

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Renault has a new chief operating officer. Carlos Tavares, formerly the Chief Executive Officer for Nissan Americas, will now fill the void left by former Renault COO Patrick Pelata. Pelata left the French automaker amid a botched spy scandal investigation that saw a rash of Renault executives lose their positions. Taveres has a long history with Renault, having served with the company for 24 years before being assigned to the U.S. with Nissan Americas in 2003. His move back to Renault has been

Continue reading Nissan Americas' Tavares becomes Renault COO on heels of spy scandal

Nissan Americas' Tavares becomes Renault COO on heels of spy scandal originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 14:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Renault's Initiale Paris luxe brand to get phased launch?

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The Renault Initiale Paris concept car from 1995 (pictured) became the company's Vel Satis flagship model that sold from 2002 to 2009 – although the Vel Satis did without the concept's detuned Formula One engine, a 392-horsepower, 3.5-liter Renault Sport RS6 V10, which might be why it never sold as well as desired. Renault has held on to the Initiale Paris name, though, using to denote the top trim on cars like the Laguna, Espace, Clio and even the dinky Modus supermini.

Continue reading Renault's Initiale Paris luxe brand to get phased launch?

Renault's Initiale Paris luxe brand to get phased launch? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Jul 2012 08:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Renault's planned luxury sub-brand gets reconsidered

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Renault believes there's enough Alpine love to restart that brand with its own model almost immediately. The launch of the Initiale Paris luxury brand it's been mulling, on the other hand, will be more restrained: a report in Autocar says that instead of launching with a first model based on the Mercedes E-Class architecture, Renault is going to introduce an Initiale Paris trim line on the new Clio and Espace. More accurately, that should be 're-introduce and aggressively market,' since Renault

Continue reading Renault's planned luxury sub-brand gets reconsidered

Renault's planned luxury sub-brand gets reconsidered originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Mar 2013 08:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Renault COO Tavares dreams of running GM or Ford

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What do you do if you're in a job with no upward mobility? Admittedly, most of us just stick it out while secretly hoping our boss is sacked for all those paperclips he's been swiping, netting us a nice, shiny promotion. Then again, most of us aren't the number two at Renault, like Carlos Tavares.

Continue reading Renault COO Tavares dreams of running GM or Ford

Renault COO Tavares dreams of running GM or Ford originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 16 Aug 2013 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Carlos Tavares steps down as Renault COO

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Renault has long been lead by two guys named Carlos. One is Carlos Ghosn, who presides as chairman and CEO not only over Renault, but also Nissan. That makes Ghosn one of the busiest guys in the business, and leaves Renault's day-to-day to the other Carlos – Carlos Tavares.

Continue reading Carlos Tavares steps down as Renault COO

Carlos Tavares steps down as Renault COO originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Aug 2013 08:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford board OK with Mulally stepping down earlier

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Ford's board is open to CEO Alan Mulally stepping down before his planned departure in 2014, inside sources are telling Reuters. Ford's plan of succession, aside from who would be his actual successor, has been something approaching common knowledge – the 68-year-old former Boeing exec had plans to stay through 2014. This was recently confirmed by Mulally himself on Bloomberg Television and in Automotive News.

Continue reading Ford board OK with Mulally stepping down earlier

Ford board OK with Mulally stepping down earlier originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 Sep 2013 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Carlos Tavares named CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroën

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Carlos Tavares is a man of ambition. As well he should be, because you don't get to the top ranks of a major industrial group without it. But as chief operating officer of Renault, there was only so far he could go in the shadow of his boss Carlos Ghosn. So with an eye toward running a major automaker, Tavares left Renault a couple of months ago, expressing his desire to run an automaker like Ford or GM. Now Tavares has gotten what he wanted, but he won't have to move to Detroit to get it. Inste

Continue reading Carlos Tavares named CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroën

Carlos Tavares named CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroën originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 27 Nov 2013 09:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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