2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder Gt Convertible 3.0 * Low Miles* Clean* No Reserve on 2040-cars

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DoJ fines Japanese parts firms $740M in massive automotive price-fixing scandal

Nine Japanese suppliers have pleaded guilty in US court over charges of price fixing in the automotive parts industry, resulting in the Department of Justice doling out a total of $740 million of fines, according to a report from Bloomberg. The scandal, which has resulted in General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Chrysler spending up to $5 billion on inflated parts and driving up prices on 25 million vehicles has sent the DoJ hustling into investigations. "The conduct this investigation uncovered involved more than a dozen separate conspiracies aimed at the U.S. economy," Attorney General Eric Holder (pictured above) said during yesterday's press conference.
As the investigation stands, the DoJ has issued $1.6 billion in fines against 20 companies and 21 individual executives, with 17 of the execs headed to prison. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Scott Hammond said, "The breadth of the conspiracies brought to light today are as egregious as they are pervasive. They involve more than a dozen separate conspiracies operating independently but all sharing in common that they targeted US automotive manufacturers."
Big-name suppliers indicted in the investigation include Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hitachi Automotive and Mitsuba Corporation. A list of fines and other corporations named in the investigation is available at Bloomberg.

The worst rally driver you've ever seen

Fast cars and excellent driving skills might be the easy answers when asking how to succeed in rally racing, but after watching this video, a good teammate is obviously an important aspect of this sport, too. During the 2013 Rally of Coimbatore in India, driver Samir Thapar and his co-driver, Vivek Ponnusamy, didn't seem to be on the same page as the two attempted to navigate the course in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.
We'd probably hear drastically different stories if we talked to Thapar and Ponnusamy about this particular event, but you know things are bad when "stay on road" and "turn the wheel" are commands given by the co-driver (and yes, that's a man running for his life in the screen shot shown above). As it turned out, though, it seems like the Ponnusamy was justified in his concerns to take care of the racecar. Race results show that despite winning three of the seven stages, this team ultimately ended the race with a DNF.
Scroll down to watch the video, and even though it's been edited down from almost 40 minutes to less than four, we get the idea that it wasn't a pleasant experience for driver or co-driver.

2014 Mitsubishi Lancer to shrink

The aging, oft-forgotten Mitsubishi Lancer won't get a replacement until sometime in 2014, but a new report states that the next-generation model could be a relatively drastic departure from the car you see here. Mitsubishi Motors Corporation President Osamu Masuko told Australian site The Motor Report that the new Lancer will be smaller than the current car, going in a different direction than the vast majority of other automakers.
"The new Lancer will be a very new car, and will be sized somewhere between the current model and its predecessor," Masuko-san told The Motor Report.
There are both pros and cons to this decision. On the plus side, a smaller car means the Lancer will likely have a weight advantage over other vehicles in its class. That said, Mitsubishi will need to find ways to maximize interior space and create efficient packaging in order to still have its compact sedan remain competitive with strong offerings like the Hyundai Elantra, Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus and so on.