Top 5 stories of the week: Carlos Ghosn on alliances; Nissan buyouts

Former Nissan Motor chief Carlos Ghosn, had plenty to say about a proposed alliance between Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi. In the U.S., Nissan is offering certain salaried workers buyouts.

Those are two of the top stories of the week as determined by Automotive News reader interest.

Carlos Ghosn, the man who led Nissan through nearly two decades of productive partnership with Renault before the alliance spectacularly imploded, says the success of a new three-way tie-up of Nissan, Mitsubishi and Honda will be easier said than done.

Nissan will cut its U.S. salaried workforce through a voluntary severance program as the Japanese automaker's fortunes falter in its second-largest market.

Changes in automakers' lineups stemming from the uneven transition to electric vehicles will reduce factory utilization over the next decade. Automakers will build less than two-thirds of their vehicle assembly capacity in 2030, according to GlobalData.

Rivian Automotive reported a net loss of $1.46 billion in the second quarter despite higher vehicle sales and cost cutting. Rivian's net loss was 21 percent greater than its $1.2 billion loss in the same period last year.

With electric vehicle sales growth slowing from once-breakneck speeds, Germany's luxury brands have had to recalibrate their EV rollouts.