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Daimler CEO Zetsche retires after 13 years

After 13 years, the chief executive officer of the German carmaker Daimler, Dieter Zetsche retired at the company's annual general meeting on Wednesday. He will be succeeded by Ola Kaellenius, previously the company's chief development officer. Zetsche said he was convinced Kaellenius would be the right person to "lead Daimler into the future". Daimler's supervisory board announced it intends to elect Zetsche to the company's supervisory board at the 2021 AGM after a two-year "cooling off period". Daimler is conducting a restructuring program, called Project Future, said to be the most comprehensive reorganization in over 130-year history. With Project Future, Daimler would be "giving itself a corporate structure that reflects and supports its strategic orientation", said Manfred Bischoff, chairman of the company's supervisory board.

German prosecutor fines Bosch 90 million euros

German automotive supplier Robert Bosch GmbH has been fined 90 million euros ($100.2 million) in connection with the manipulation of diesel exhaust software, the public prosecutor's office in Stuttgart announced on Thursday. The prosecutor's office said the fine imposed on Bosch was a penalty for "negligent breach" of the company's supervisory duty. Bosch announced it was waiving its right to appeal the fine imposed by the German public prosecutor. "The regulatory offense proceedings have been completed and the decision is final and unappealable," read a statement from Bosch sent to Xinhua on Thursday. Bosch said it would "continue to expand its compliance organization continuously in order to minimize the risk of violations of applicable law occurring at the company".

Honda recalls 137,000 SUVs for air bag deployments

Honda Motor Co said on Wednesday it is recalling 137,000 new SUVs following reports of three injuries tied to sudden air bag deployments in the United States. The Japanese automaker said it is recalling the 2019 CR-V to replace steering wheel wire harnesses and supplemental restraint system cable reels after six unexpected driver air bag deployments that occurred without a crash. There are so far no reports of related crashes, the automaker said. The recall includes 118,000 vehicles in the United States and 19,000 in South Korea and Canada. Metal burrs on the interior surface of the steering wheel may result in damage that could lead to a short circuit and overheating of components, Honda said.

Former Nissan chairman Ghosn appears in court

Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn appeared in a Japanese courtroom Thursday for a hearing ahead of his trial on accusations of financial misconduct. It was the first of a series of hearings to iron out logistics for Ghosn's upcoming trial. The trial date has not been set, and experts say it could be months away. Ghosn, who led the Japanese automaker for two decades, was arrested in November and charged with underreporting his income and breach of trust. He was released on bail in March, rearrested in April on fresh accusations and then released again on bail on April 25. Ghosn insists he is innocent and says he was targeted in a "conspiracy" by others at Nissan.

Motoring - Agecies

(China Daily 05/27/2019 page19)