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Mopar updates owner apps to make car ownership easier

Owners of any Fiat Chrysler vehicle will want to head to the Apple App or Google Play store to download the latest version of their brand-specific smartphone app. Developed by Mopar, the new suite of FCA Owner apps specific to each brand pack a number of valuable features. For starters, the apps let owners access information like maintenance schedules, service history and recall notices. The apps also include an array of how-to information and instructional videos, offer push notification for important updates like maintenance offers and recall alerts, and allow customers to schedule test drives and receive quotes from their local dealers for new vehicles. But that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The FCA Owner apps also feature an augmented reality function that helps drivers identify instrument-panel icons. There's a Parking Reminder feature that helps drivers remember where they parked their car, guides them back to their parking spot and tracks the time left on the meter. Finally, there's an Accident Assistant feature that helps drivers record the specifics of an accident, upload insurance information and take photos of the scene. It'll even help find the closest certified collision repair facility, schedule an appointment and access roadside assistance. The apps are available for any Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Jeep, Fiat or Alfa Romeo built from 2011 till today, and are available for either iOS or Android. If you've got more than one FCA vehicle in your garage, you needn't download multiple versions of the app as they'll work on any model the Italian-American automaker offers. Mopar Enhances FCA Owner Apps - Redesigned FCA Owner apps offer a wide range of VIN-specific information - Owners can access maintenance schedules, service history, recall notices and more - "Augmented reality" function, beginning with 2015 models, allows owners to use camera feature on mobile devices to scan and identify instrument panel icons - Industry-first Accident Assistant feature helps owners easily document important accident information and quickly locate a certified repair facility - Individual brand versions of the app support all FCA brand vehicles - FCA Owner apps are free to download for both iOS and Android mobile devices May 29, 2015 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - The Mopar brand has redesigned and enhanced its suite of FCA Owner apps, putting more resources than ever at owners' fingertips with easier access to vehicle and lifestyle information.

Fiat Chrysler to pay $40 million fine for inflating sales numbers

DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler is paying $40 million to settle with U.S. securities regulators who say the automaker misled investors by overstating its monthly sales numbers over a five-year period. The Italian-American company inflated sales by paying dealers to report fake numbers from 2012 to 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged in a complaint. Fiat Chrysler agreed to pay the civil penalty and to stop violating anti-fraud, reporting and internal accounting control regulations, the SEC said Friday in a statement. The automaker did not admit or deny the agency's allegations, the statement said. "This case underscores the need for companies to truthfully disclose their key performance indicators," Antonia Chion, associate director in the SEC's Enforcement Division, said in the statement. She noted that the new vehicle sales figures give investors insight into the demand for an automaker's products, a key to assessing the company's performance. Fiat Chrysler said it has reviewed and refined its sales reporting procedures. It said the payment will not have a large impact on its financial statements. The agency said the automaker boasted about a streak of year-over-year sales increases into 2016, when the streak actually was broken in September of 2013. When the company disclosed the sales scheme in 2016, it said that it had a "reserve" stock of cars that had been shipped to big fleet buyers such as rental car companies but not recorded as sales. The SEC said employees called this database of actual but unreported sales the "cookie jar." The company dipped into those sales to stop the streak from ending, or when it would have missed other sales targets. Fiat Chrysler said it now records sales as soon as vehicles are shipped to customers. It has also take steps to ensure that a sale is immediately subtracted from its books when it finds out the deal was scuttled because the buyer backed out or couldn't get financing. The SEC probe is another in a long string of legal troubles for Fiat Chrysler. It also faces federal investigations into illegal payments to union officials through a training center, and a criminal probe into allegations that its diesel-powered trucks were programmed to cheat on emissions tests. The company has denied cheating, but federal prosecutors charged an engineer earlier this week and said he conspired with others. In June, Fiat Chrysler's U.S.

Did a US automaker blow the whistle on Hyundai, Kia fuel economy issue?

In all of the most hotly contested mainstream segments of the motoring universe, the difference of one mile per gallon averaged on a widow sticker can mean the difference between a sale and a walk-off - to say nothing of two or three mpg. So, when Hyundai and Kia were forced to reveal that many of their 40-mpg ratings were actually 38s and 37s, well, it made for big news.
It also, conceivably, made for a competitive disadvantage immediately, when the Korean automakers' products were being shopped versus the guys down the block. And it's that disadvantage that makes a recent story from Automotive News so juicy.
AN is reporting that Margo Oge, former head of the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Transportation and Air Quality, got a tip in 2010 that Hyundai/Kia were "cheating" to get its impressive fuel economy numbers. The tip, said Oge (who retired from the EPA this past September), came from a senior vice president from a domestic automaker. The source was credible enough for Oge to launch an audit of the Hyundai figures, which ultimately lead to the debacle that we reported on a few months ago, and that the Korean company has been trying to bounce back from ever since.