Ghosn says car ownership here to stay

NEW YORK >> Personal car ownership isn’t going anywhere, regardless of the rise of Uber Technologies Inc. and ride-­sharing, according to the man who may oversee more auto sales than anyone else this year.

Global vehicle sales will continue to expand, with alternative forms of mobility making only a marginal impact or actually boosting demand, said Carlos Ghosn, the chairman of the alliance between Renault SA, Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp.

“A lot of people think this is substitution. It’s not — it’s addition,” Ghosn said in an interview Wednesday at Bloomberg’s The Year Ahead conference in New York. “The traditional business of building cars and selling cars and owning cars is going to continue.”

Ghosn’s prediction flies in the face of forecasts that the emergence of ride-hailing and car-sharing — eventually coupled with vehicles capable of driving themselves — will upend the more than $2 trillion annual business of selling new vehicles. Demand in developed markets like the U.S., Europe and Japan are stabilizing, but rates of ownership still have room to rise in markets including China and India, Ghosn said.

The group of companies Ghosn oversees is poised to sell about 10.5 million cars and trucks globally this year, enough to contend with Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp. for the industry’s top sales spot for the first time. The alliance has forecast deliveries will jump to at least 14 million in 2022.

ON THE MOVE

Tori Richard Ltd. has promoted Kathy Fujiwara to vice president of human resources. She joined the company in 2013 and served as a human resources and training development manager and later a human resources director in 2015. Prior to Tori Richard, Fujiwara was director of retail operations and personnel at Pioneer Ace Hardware and has retail management experience with other companies.

Central Pacific Bank has promoted Derek Costigan to vice president and capital markets manager. He will also oversee the secondary marketing and shipping staff. Costigan has 12 years of mortgage industry experience within CPB and previously served as a senior secondary marketing specialist.

Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel has announced that Wayne R. Wagner has rejoined the firm and will continue his practice as a commercial litigator. Wagner’s experience includes working in intellectual property, construction defect, appeals, environmental matters and federal class actions.