Emissions crackdown exposes Renault-Nissan engine trouble

The Renault-Nissan alliance is replacing its top executive in charge of combining the carmakers' engines and gearboxes, sources told Reuters, as tightening emissions regulations expose the slow pace of integration so far.

A coming onslaught of emissions regulation in the wake of Volkswagen's exposure last year for cheating U.S. diesel tests has made the problem more urgent.

Independent studies have since blamed Renault for some of the highest real-world nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, piling pressure on engineering boss Gaspar Gascon Abellan and Thierry Bollore, Ghosn's second-in-command at the French carmaker.

Questions over whether Renault's technology breaches EU law have been referred to prosecutors for investigation. Renault has said all its engines are legal read more »

U.S. fines Seattle 'duck boat' manufacturer in fatal crash

The company that built a Seattle amphibious "duck boat" that collided with a charter bus killing five international students in September 2015, has agreed to pay a fine of up to $1 million, the U.S. Transportation Department said on Tuesday.

Ride the Ducks International LLC (RTDI) also admitted it failed to comply with U.S. vehicle manufacturing rules because it had not registered with the government and agreed to follow rules governing safety related defects in future.

The National Transportation Safety Board in November blamed the crash on a front axle failure caused by a manufacturing error.

The collision increased scrutiny of the boat-buses, which have been involved in several deadly crashes. Four months earlier, an amphibious sightseeing vehicle in Philadelphia fatally struck a woman on a street. In 2010, two tourists were killed when a tugboat pushed a barge into a similar vehicle in Philadelphia. In April this year, a Boston Duck Tours bus struck and killed a woman in Boston. read more »