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Wheelies: The Leaf Longevity Edition


A roundup of motoring news from the web:

■ Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Nissan, said in an interview on Japanese television this week that new battery technology that would improve the range of the Leaf electric vehicle was on its way. Mr. Ghosn was coy with details, but confirmed that the E.V.'s range would be doubled, to almost 250 miles. ( Daily Kanban)


■ General Motors announced this week that it hired Craig Daitch, a former social media manger from Ford, to head the social media program for its Chevrolet brand. The automaker said that Mr. Daitch, who had most recently managed the digital marketing account for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles at SapientNitro, would be responsible for the social media campaigns that accompany Chevrolet's new model introductions and racing program. ( Automotive News, subscription required)


■ Carjacking is down in Detroit - it dropped from 1,231 incidents in 2008 to 701 last year - but still happens three times more often than in New York City, which has a population 10 times as large. By mid-November, the number of carjackings in the Motor City was 485, a 31 percent drop from 2013. The Detroit Free Press noted that although the city's dwindling population might have had something to do with the decline - 13 percent of its residents had left since 2008 - police and federal agents have also been cracking down. ( The Detroit Free Press)


■ Bob Thomas, who once ran Nissan's North American sales operation, died Nov. 23 at the age of 69. Mr. Thomas, who was the chief executive of the Nissan Motor Corporation U.S.A. from 1993-97, left the company before its financial rescue by Renault. He went on to lead marketing at AutoNation and later served as the North American chief executive of Edmunds. ( Automotive News, subscription required)


■ The French government announced this week that, beginning next year, it would begin ranking vehicles by the amount of air pollution they produce. Prime Minister Manuel Valls said in a speech last week that the government was trying to phase out diesel power cars, which account for about two-thirds of the vehicles on French roads, over air pollution concerns. ( Green Car Reports)


■ Burt Reynolds' 1977 Pontiac Trans Am, used to promote 'Smokey and the Bandit,' in which Mr. Reynolds starred, went up for auction this week along with other memorabilia from Mr. Reynolds. Bidding on the car, which has a 400-cubic-inch V8, a custom 'Bandit' logo and only 12,000 miles on the odometer, has already passed $70,000. ( Jalopnik)


■ Top Gear, the motoring enthusiast television program, has begun a China edition, the first episode of which aired Nov. 13. Starring Cheng Lei, a television presenter; Richie Jen, a Taiwanese actor; and Tian Liang, an Olympic gold medalist, the show joins the original British program, as well as versions created for the United States, Australia, Russia, France and South Korea. ( Autoblog)


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