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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

California to stop buying GM, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler vehicles over emissions fight

WASHINGTON — California said on Monday it will halt all purchases of new vehicles for state government fleets from GM, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler and other automakers backing President Donald Trump in a battle to strip the state of authority to regulate tailpipe emissions. Between 2016 and 2018, California purchased $58.6 million in vehicles from General Motors, $55.8 million from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, $10.6 million from Toyota Motor and $9 million from Nissan. Last month, GM, Toyota, Fiat Chrysler and members of the Global Automakers trade association backed the Trump administration's effort to bar California from setting tailpipe standards, which are more rigid than Washington's proposed national standards. The automakers declined or did not immediately comment on California's announced ban on purchases of their vehicles. Starting in January, the state will only buy from automakers that recognize California's legal authority to set emissions standards. Those automakers include Ford, Honda, BMW AG and Volkswagen AG, which struck a deal with California in July to follow revised state vehicle emissions standards. "Car makers that have chosen to be on the wrong side of history will be on the losing end of CaliforniaÂ’s buying power," California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement. California purchased $69.2 million in vehicles from Ford over the three-year-period, $565,000 from Honda and none from the German automakers. The state also disclosed it will immediately no longer allow state agencies to buy sedans powered by an internal combustion engine, with exemptions for certain public safety vehicles. California's vehicle rules have been adopted by 13 other states. On Friday, California and 22 other U.S. states challenged the Trump administration's decision to revoke California's legal authority to set vehicle tailpipe emissions rules and require a rising number of zero emission vehicles (ZEV). The move follows a separate lawsuit filed in September by the states against the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration seeking to undo a parallel determination. In August 2018, the Trump administration proposed freezing fuel efficiency requirements at 2020 levels through 2026, reversing planned 5% annual increases. The Trump administrationÂ’s final requirements are expected in the coming months and are set to modestly boost fuel efficiency versus the initial proposal, with several automakers anticipating annual increases of about 1.5%.

Detroit 3 small cars lay an egg in latest Consumer Reports reliability study

Consumer Reports has released its Annual Auto Reliability Survey and the results are, in a word, interesting. While we already covered the score-damaging effects of infotainment systems, there's another big angle to the data that's getting some attention - the utterly dismal scores of the Detroit Three's small car offerings.
The turbocharged Dodge Dart and Chevrolet Cruze, as well as the Ford Fiesta were their respective brands' lowest-scoring models, a stat that's made worse by the fact that the American automakers finished 25th, 21st and 23rd, respectively.
That's not acceptable for The Detroit Free Press' auto critic, Mark Phelan, who has penned a scathing critique of the D3's small car reliability scores, arguing that GM, Ford and Chrysler are "out of excuses."