
Nissan has announced plans to recall approximately 150,000 vehicles owing to improper tests on new units, dealing a fresh blow to the Japanese car giant following the shock arrest of former chairman Carlos Ghosn.

Nissan plans to conduct another recall owing to "improper" tests on new vehicles, a newspaper said, dealing a fresh blow to the Japanese car giant following the shock arrest of former chairman Carlos Ghosn.

Tesla Motors said Wednesday it will begin European deliveries of its long-awaited mass-market Model 3 electric car from February. A spokesperson told AFP the first to take delivery would be customers who had reserved their Model 3 starting March 2016 if they confirm their order by January 1.

A solitary cell, 30 minutes of daily exercise and two baths a week: Carlos Ghosn's new routine is a world away from the private jets and lavish parties the millionaire tycoon once enjoyed. The 64-year-old auto industry titan stands accused of serious financial misconduct and is being questioned at a concrete 12-floor detention centre in northern Tokyo which also houses convicted criminals and even deathrow inmates. Meanwhile, Nissan board members voted unanimously to sack Ghosn as chairman on Thursday.

World champion Lewis Hamilton has questioned Formula One's policy of organising races in new countries after this month's announcement of the Vietnam Grand Prix. Hamilton told the BBC that he would prefer to see more stops in countries with a genuine racing tradition, rather than expanding to new markets. On the racing side, I don't know how important it is to go to new countries as such," said Hamilton who sealed his fifth world title last month.

China announced a timeline for lifting ownership limits on foreign automakers Tuesday, meeting a longtime demand of the United States and Europe that President Xi Jinping pledged to fulfill last week.

German auto giant BMW said Friday it plans to build an electric version of its compact Mini in China, in a possible joint venture with local partner Great Wall.

If brake fluid on the motorcycles is not replaced for a "prolonged period" beyond the recommended two-year schedule, deposits may form on internal components "reducing braking ability and increasing the risk of a crash".

Volkswagen on Tuesday suspended its chief lobbyist Thomas Steg as outrage mounted over monkey and human experiments. The carmaker faced fresh scrutiny today over reports it helped finance experiments that saw monkeys and humans breathe car exhaust fumes.

The New York Times reported that a US institute commissioned by German auto firms carried out tests on 10 monkeys in 2014.

The plaintiffs complained that the real power of their Tesla S P85D, a sedan with one of the fastest accelerations in the world, was 462 BHPand not 690 BHP as promised by the manufacturer.

The news comes as Beijing debates a nationwide ban, though a date for entirely eliminating petrol vehicles has yet to be announced.

To mitigate its tough policies, Singapore has built a modern public transport network with a subway, overland trains and buses, and the government recently announced a plan to spend Sg$28 billion to upgrade the system.

Nissan recalled some 1.2 million vehicles after admitting in October that staff without proper authorisation had conducted final inspections on some vehicles intended for the domestic market before they were shipped to dealers.

The sale is likely to be well perceived by Renault's alliance partner Nissan which took a dim view of the French government hiking its stake in 2015.

The drop comes after Nissan admitted it had failed to meet domestic rules on final vehicle inspections and recalled around 1.2 million vehicles produced and sold in Japan for re-inspection.

The Silicon Valley electric carmaker's wholly-owned manufacturing facility would be built in Shanghai's free-trade zone and could allow Tesla to dramatically lower the cost of its cars in China.

The announcement came after Nissan's shares slumped in Tokyo on reports that tests were performed by staffs that were not certified to check the vehicles to Japanese government standards.

The driver's "overreliance" on the Tesla system -- designed as a semi-autonomous diving system to be used with a human operator -- permitted "prolonged disengagement" that led to the collision with the freight trailer.

BMW began working on the project with US computer chip giant Intel and the Israeli tech firm Mobileye last year. With FCA joining in now, the group aims to have their first fully automated cars in production by 2021.