In Case You Missed It - Nutson's Weekly Automotive News Digest - February 20-26, 2017: Ghosn Goes French, Traffic Jammed, Money Talks, Camero Zooms and Paces, Tesla, Chrysler Recall,

AUTO CENTRAL CHICAGO, February 26, 2017; Every Sunday Larry Nutson, Senior Editor and Chicago Car Guy along with fellow senior editors Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Michigan Bureau, give you TACH's "take" on this past week's automotive news in easy to digest mega-tweet sized nuggets.

If you are a car and driving fan like we all are here at The Auto Channel, you can easily "catch up" or put these stories in context by searching the past 25 year's 2,006,090 pages of automotive news, automotive stories, articles, reviews, archived news, video, audio, rants and raves accessible from The Auto Channel's Automotive News Archive.

Hey TV viewers, you can now enjoy The Auto Channel TV Network "Free and Clear" on WHDT Channel 3 in Boston and on many local cable systems. All South Florida auto fans can continue to watch The Auto Channel TV Network on WHDT-TV Channel 9 in West Palm Beach as well as cable channel's 17 and 438, channel 9 Miami. WHDN launched its full schedule (including The Auto Channel)of broadcasting in the Naples-Fort Myers market on digital PSIP channel 9.1 channel, look for us Hulu and on TUNAVISION.

Nutson's Nuggets: February 26, 2017;

* After eighteen years at the helm 62-year-old Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn is stepping down. Ghosn came to Nissan in 1999 and became CEO shortly thereafter. Nissan at the time was struggling for its existence and was even facing potential bankruptcy. Ghosn had the company back on track and profitable in a very short time. The new boss at Nissan will be Hiroto Saikawa who has been with Nissan since 1977. Ghosn will continue as chairman of the Nissan board, CEO of Renault and lead the alliance between Renault, Nissan and, as of last year, Mitsubishi.

* A new study by transportation analytics researcher INRIX has broadened its annual traffic review of urban traffic congestion to include 38 countries. Los Angeles is the worst with its drivers spending an average of 104 hours stuck in traffic jams last year, or about 12.7 percent of their total drive time. Moscow drivers came in second, spending 91 hours going nowhere; and New York’s car-based commuters had the world’s third-worst conditions, wasting 89 hours in traffic jams. The US accounted for 11 of the Top 25 cities worldwide with the worst traffic congestion.

* Another new study, this time by the customer service software firm MaritzCX focused on the brands most commonly purchased by high-income Americans. Among those earning more than $200,000 per year, the most popular new vehicle to buy is a Ford F-150. Rounding out the top five in MaritzCX's study are: Jeep Grand Cherokee, Honda Pilot, Jeep Wrangler, and Honda Civic. When Americans make over $400,000 they start buying luxury brands like Tesla and Lexus. But they also buy the Honda Civic.

* The J.D. Power 2017 Vehicle Dependability Study(VDS), now in its 28th year, examines problems experienced during the past 12 months by original owners of 2014 model-year vehicles. The study finds that the 10 top-selling 2014 model-year vehicles average 134 PP100, which is significantly better than the industry average of 156 PP100. Lexus and Porsche tie to rank highest. Following are Toyota, Buick, Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai.

* The 650-horsepower supercharged LT4 engine-powered Camaro ZL1 Coupe has a top speed of 198 mph. Chevrolet tested the max velocity of the ZL1 (with 10-speed automatic) on the High Speed Oval at Germany’s Automotive Testing Papenburg GmBH proving ground. Compensating for wind speed, the top speed is the average achieved from running the ZL1 in both directions on the 7.6-mile loop — 202.3 mph in one direction and 193.3 mph in the other direction. 0-60 mph is in 3.5 seconds; Quarter mile in 11.4 seconds at 127 mph.

* Google’s autonomous car unit, Waymo, filed suit this week against Uber claiming theft of trade secrets. Waymo claims a former manager, Anthony Levandowski, left the company to start his own self-driving car business taking with him thousand of files containing proprietary information. Uber then bought his company. A Waymo spokesman likened it to “stealing the secret recipe from a beverage company,” apparently referencing Coca Cola’s closely guarded formula.

* In related news, Uber has not had a smooth ride so far this year. Allegations of sexual abuse and harassment within the company persist resulting in the company hiring independent investigators, former attorney general Eric Holder along with Arianna Huffington to get to the bottom of the problem. Uber has been planning an initial public offering of stock in the near future and this scandal could stifle enthusiasm among possible investors.

* Autonomy is not only coming to cars. Farm tractor maker Case-New Holland has developed the Case IH Magnum autonomous concept tractor with a futuristic cab-less design, carbon-fiber front fenders and signature LED status running lights. For those long days in the field, the farmer may soon be sitting in the farmhouse.

* Tesla announced this week that production of the much-anticipated Model 3 mainstream electric luxury sedan will begin in July. Critics have questioned whether the company could actually produce the number of cars they’ve promised, notwithstanding an investment of $2 billion in the manufacturing facility to cope with even higher demand than anticipated. Even without final specifications confirmed the company has close to 400,000 enthusiasts who have placed a deposit in order to get in line for the car.

* Fiat Chrysler is recalling 2014-2017 Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 vehicles equipped with all-wheel drive because driveshaft bolts can come loose, increasing the risk of a crash. About 75,000 cars are affected.

* Special cars at collector car auctions usually sell for more if they’ve been owned, driven or raced by someone famous. We’ll see if that extends to President Donald Trump when his 2007 Ferrari F430 comes up for sale at the Auctions America Fort Lauderdale event on April 1st. Auctions America estimates it will go for about a quarter million dollars, 30% more than a comparable F430. Trump sold it in 2011 to the owner who is now putting it up for auction.

* Sunday, February 26th marks the 59th running of the epic Daytona 500 NASCAR race, kick-off for the 2017 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup series. Qualifying happened last week resulting in a grid led by: Chase Elliott - Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet; Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet; Jamie McMurray - Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet; Denny Hamlin - Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota; Kevin Harvick - Stewart-Haas Racing Ford; and Clint Bowyer - Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.

* Elliott and Earnhardt Jr. are not only teammates but both are sons of Hall of Fame drivers. Elliott nipped Earnhardt on the final qualifying lap to win his second straight pole for the Daytona 500. Elliott turned a lap at192.872 mph to just edge Earnhardt’s speed of 192.864 and become the first driver in 27 years be be a repeat pole winner.

* Three-time Daytona 500 winner and four-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champ Jeff Gordon will lead the field to the start of Sunday’s Daytona 500 behind the wheel of the new 650-horsepower 2017 Camaro ZL1 pace car. The 2017 Daytona 500 marks the fifth time a Camaro has served as the official pace car. The previous years were 2011, 2009, 1969 and 1968.