Chrysler News: Dealerships accuse Fiat Chrysler of falsifying U.S. sales

[Cmicasa the Great]

Two Chicago area dealership groups have filed a lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles accusing the auto manufacturer of falsifying monthly sales figures in the U.S. FCA says the allegations are without merit.

FCA has reported 69 monthly sales gains in the years since its bankruptcy in 2009.

 

In the lawsuit, the one of dealerships claim that they were offered $20,000 to falsely report the sales of 40 new vehicles on the final day of a month. Those sales would then be backed out on the first day of the next month preventing the warranty clock on those vehicles from starting.

 

The lawsuit further alleges that FCA rewards dealers who falsify the sales reports with a greater allocation of the best selling vehicles.

 

Source: Automotive News

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[David]

NOt good, FCA is going to hurt big time with this.

[Cmicasa the Great]

Wow... what if this is NA wide.. as in FCA's numbers are say down.. minimum.. 100K last year.. or more due to these numbers being fudged?

[ccap41]

Ha. 

[oldshurst442]

Italians and racketeering...

 

Somehow, those go together like bread and butter.

Somehow, you cant have one without the other.

[David]

Will be watching this closely. If it gets ugly, I bet we see some changes at the executive level all the way back to Italy.

[Cmicasa the Great]

Will be watching this closely. If it gets ugly, I bet we see some changes at the executive level all the way back to Italy.

 

 

Sergio isn't going anywhere til retirement. What I really wanna kno is what exactly were FCA's numbers then. That 7% Increase might not be exactly what we heard it was at end of the year 2015

[FordCosworth]

Once again, FCA in the news. Once again, not for the better.

[hyperv6]

If this is true it could really be major trouble.

Stock was stopped when it dropped at 9.8% in Europe if I heard correctly before being suspended.

The lawsuit is not as bad as it could get if the federal government gets involved. This is the kind of stuff people go to jail over if they can identify who made the call to do this. Even if they do not pin it on anyone the stock will take a hit anyways.

No Stu this is not an attack just what the media and Wall St people are saying. I hope this is proven false as this could really be as bad.

[Drew Dowdell]

If this is true it could really be major trouble.

Stock was stopped when it dropped at 9.8% in Europe if I heard correctly before being suspended.

The lawsuit is not as bad as it could get if the federal government gets involved. This is the kind of stuff people go to jail over if they can identify who made the call to do this. Even if they do not pin it on anyone the stock will take a hit anyways.

No Stu this is not an attack just what the media and Wall St people are saying. I hope this is proven false as this could really be as bad.

 

If this allegation turns out to be true... the Securities and Exchange commission doesn't tend to take too kindly to lying to shareholders.  The racketeering charge is child's play in comparison. 

[hyperv6]

If this allegation turns out to be true... the Securities and Exchange commission doesn't tend to take too kindly to lying to shareholders.  The racketeering charge is child's play in comparison.

Yes that is what I mean. This one would include the S&E as well as justice department and others as this breaks laws under several areas.

This could be bad enough they will wish they lied and cheated on Diesel emissions.

Edited January 14, 2016 by Drew Dowdell
fixed up your quoting mishap

[hyperv6]

I was just thinking. Sergio made a big deal on how he was no longer wanting to go after a hostle take over with investors.

​I am betting he backed off when they saw this coming as it would not look good to be claiming the hostle take over with new investors while getting sued for lying about sales and volume. Even if he did not know about it this would be enough to bring charges.

[hyperv6]

 

Will be watching this closely. If it gets ugly, I bet we see some changes at the executive level all the way back to Italy.

 

 

Sergio isn't going anywhere til retirement. What I really wanna kno is what exactly were FCA's numbers then. That 7% Increase might not be exactly what we heard it was at end of the year 2015

 

 

It would be interesting to see the real numbers if the books were cooked. I know jeep sales are doing well but what numbers did they falsify?

 

Sergio had better hope that their books are fully in order.  You know the family will let him hang in the wind on this no matter what if it proves to be true.

Edited January 15, 2016 by hyperv6

[David]

 

 

Will be watching this closely. If it gets ugly, I bet we see some changes at the executive level all the way back to Italy.

 

 

Sergio isn't going anywhere til retirement. What I really wanna kno is what exactly were FCA's numbers then. That 7% Increase might not be exactly what we heard it was at end of the year 2015

 

 

It would be interesting to see the real numbers if the books were cooked. I know jeep sales are doing well but what numbers did they falsify?

 

Sergio had better hope that their books are fully in order.  You know the family will let him hang in the wind on this no matter what if it proves to be true.

 

Gut tells me they fried Fiat Numbers, Chrysler / Dodge numbers. I truly believe Jeep and Ram are just fine.

 

Look at your local FIAT dealers and tell me how they are selling as many as they are when you see not just 30-50 autos on the lot but hundreds of them. The FIAT dealers in the greater Puget Sound area all have around 200-300 fiats in stock. You cannot tell me they are moving that many each month when I hardly see them on the roads. They are one of the most terribly made products right with Mini. There are way too many FIATS that are under 10K miles 2 years old or under 5K 1 year old for sale plus hundreds of new ones.

 

The product should die and go away. Chrysler / Dodge can do a better subcompact / compact than Fiat.

[Stew]

I will wait for proof (as all should).  You would think if they were fudging numbers that it would be making a much better showing as what it is showing right now (outside of he 500x, which is still getting crushed in it's segment).  Also, couldn't this be confirmed or denied via checking new vehicle registrations?  If it is, it is, but the accusation seems off as everything outside of Jeep and ram is only doing decent (Chrysler/Dodge) or in $h!'s creeks (Fiat). 

[ccap41]

Well just showing your shareholders you're not going under could be enough to lie about it. If you show terrible numbers and all investors bail.. then you're more scored. If you show massive gains then it is obvious. Just show small gains or staying afloat might be able to fly under the radar. 

[Stew]

Like anything, regardless of who it effects, there still needs to be proof out there.  So far all we have is hearsay. 

[ccap41]

I think it is more than just here-say i there are two dealerships filing lawsuits. 

[Drew Dowdell]

From reading the lawsuit, it could be localized....  perhaps one bad apple in the form of a regional manager.

[David]

From reading the lawsuit, it could be localized....  perhaps one bad apple in the form of a regional manager.

So you are thinking this could be a district manager trying to make himself look good for promotion or just to keep his job.

[cp-the-nerd]

Yeah, I read that the two dealers filing the complaint have been under-performing for years, so they're not getting corporate benefits and as such, they have motive to lie. I'm sure an investigation will reveal the truth soon enough.

[Drew Dowdell]

 

From reading the lawsuit, it could be localized....  perhaps one bad apple in the form of a regional manager.

So you are thinking this could be a district manager trying to make himself look good for promotion or just to keep his job.

 

 

Purely hypothesis and speculation... but yes.

[Stew]

That does sound more plausible, especially considering both dealerships were from the same area.  If true i don't see one region making that large of an impact on overall sales. 

[hyperv6]

More needs to be learned.

​If both cases get tossed then odds are there is nothign to this. If the cases get settled then the goverment may move in to investigate and it will be based on that.

 

I just hope this proved false.