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Fiat Chrysler wins top Total Quality Award for first time

The Strategic Vision Total Quality Awards are 20 years old in 2015, and Chrysler has never topped the awards before. Until now, that is. Fiat Chrysler takes the overall award on the corporate level with six segment leaders from Fiat, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram. The Fiat 500 won Small Multi-Function Car, the 500e won Small Alternative Powertrain, the Dodge Challenger tied at the top in the Specialty Coupe category alongside the very un-coupe Mini Cooper Countryman, the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited took the Entry SUV category, the Dodge Durango won in Mid-Size SUV, and Ram took the overall in Best Non-Luxury Brand. The accolade means FCA has gone from one segment winner in 2010 to overall victory in five years. Cars have gotten so good, says Strategic Vision, that it is harder than ever to win. In fact, says the group, 18 years ago 85 percent of all vehicle brands had more than half a problem per vehicle. This year, no brand has more than half a problem per vehicle. The organization measures "over 155 specific aspects of the customer's experience," and scores are based on input from more than 46,000 customers. Other notables in and near the winner's circle include Volkswagen and General Motors, who tied for second place on the corporate scale, one point behind FCA. The Mini Cooper Roadster scored the highest of any model, the Corvette Stingray Convertible and Coupe scored the second- and third-highest. The Chevrolet Colorado is the first domestic Standard Pickup winner in more than ten years, and the Nissan Titan carried the Full-Size Pickup category. The press release below has all the details on how winners and losers are selected, and the full list of automakers and how they finished. "The Customer's 'Total' Experience Defines Quality, Fiat Chrysler Scores Highest in Total Quality," says Strategic Vision The 2015 Total Quality Awards® SAN DIEGO, Friday, July 17, 2015 — Unknown to many, when some consumer research firms rank a car company's quality performance they often do so by simply "counting problems." In the past, this may have been acceptable, but in today's modern and efficient manufacturing world the difference between the worst brand and best brand is LESS than half-a-problem per vehicle. Thus, any "quality ranking" based on this method is severely lacking in the complete picture of the "Total" Quality experience that customers actually use to judge their product ownership.

FCA under investigation for fraud by FBI, SEC, and DOJ

The US Justice Department is currently in the initial stages of investigating Fiat Chrysler Automobiles for fraud, according to two anonymous sources that spoke with Bloomberg. According to the unnamed sources, prosecutors are examining whether FCA violated US securities laws. As part of a coordinated investigation into FCA's sales reporting practices, investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission visited the automaker's field staff in their offices and homes earlier this month, reports Automotive News. According to an anonymous source that spoke to Automotive News, federal staff attorneys visited FCA's US headquarters in Auburn Hills, MI on July 11. The unnamed source told the outlet that employees were advised to seek counsel before speaking with investigators. Investigators also visited the automaker's offices in Dallas, California, and Orlando, the unnamed source told Automotive News. The investigation comes after FCA claimed it had recorded the best month of sales in the US in the automaker's history in December with a total of 217,527 vehicles sold, reports Bloomberg. The claim now seems untrustworthy. According to a previous report from Automotive News, a Chicago-based dealership group filed a lawsuit against FCA earlier this year. The suit accused the automaker of paying dealers to fake new-vehicle sales. At the time, the automaker claimed the allegations were baseless and had no merit. After the lawsuit, FCA started to add an extended disclaimed at the end of its monthly sales reports, according to Automotive News. In a statement, FCA claimed that the automaker is cooperating with the SEC investigation and pointed out that it records "revenues based on shipments to dealers and customers, not on reported vehicle unit sales to end customers." We'll have more on the investigation as it unfolds. Related Video: News Source: Automotive News-sub.req., Automotive News-sub.req, Bloomberg, GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images Government/Legal Chrysler Fiat FCA USDOJ investigation

Local UAW leaders recommend membership approve FCA contract

DETROIT — Union leaders from Fiat Chrysler factories are sending a new four-year contract to a membership vote. The 47,000 members of the United Auto Workers union at the company will vote on the deal starting Friday. Local leaders assembled on Wednesday in Detroit to go over the pact, which includes a $9,000 bonus per worker upon ratification. The company also has promised $4.5 billion worth of new investments in U.S. factories. The union reached agreement with Fiat Chrysler last weekend. The new contract also offers a mix of lump sums and pay raises for longtime workers, full top wages for new hires within four years and a path for temporary employees to become full-time after three years of work. The Fiat Chrysler contract also adds 12.5% to the union workers' profit-sharing formula, giving them $900 per 1% of profit margin generated North American. That's up from $800, and a $12,000 cap was lifted. The UAW says the deal created more than 7,900 jobs, including a $4.5 billion investment previously announced at two factories in Detroit. Fiat Chrysler is the last of the Detroit automakers to settle with the union. Workers at General Motors ratified their contract Oct. 31, ending a 40-day strike that paralyzed GM's U.S. factories. Ford workers followed by approving a contract in November. In a summary of the contract, the union said FCA agreed to extend a moratorium on outsourcing of jobs and will maintain its U.S. manufacturing presence through the life of the contract. The $9 billion of factory investment includes $4.5 billion previously announced at two factories in Detroit, including a new assembly plant. Also included is an agreement to build fresh models off the Jeep Cherokee SUV underpinnings and invest $55 million into the Belvidere, Illinois, assembly plant, where the Cherokee is built. At the Toledo, Ohio, North Assembly plant, which builds the Jeep Wrangler SUV, the company will invest $160 million and hire 100 more people to build a plug-in hybrid version of the Wrangler. The Toledo South plant gets $120 million to keep building the Jeep Gladiator pickup. At an assembly plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, Fiat Chrysler will invest $210 million to keep building light-duty Ram pickup and new high-performance version of the truck. Another truck plant in Warren, Michigan, will get $2.8 billion including engineering and development expenses to keep building the Ram pickup and a new three-row SUV called the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer.