Last summer, Wall Street and the media portrayed Nissan-Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn as the American auto industry's possible messiah. Fast forward 6 months, and Nissan's sales have slowed — especially in America — prompting its first profit decline in seven years. Now Ghosn doesn't seem so hot. As a matter of fact, the one-time possible GM savior is retreating from American oversight of Nissan. Meanwhile, GM's fortunes have improved. The company said March 14 its net income for the fourth quarter of 2006 was $950 million, compared to a net loss of $6.6 billion for the same period a year earlier. It just goes to show situations can change in the auto industry faster than a Nissan Z. —Matthew Wurtzel
See story about Ghosn from The New York Times
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