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FCA reportedly joins the crowd skipping this year's Paris Motor Show

It's likely FCA vehicles will not be seen at the Paris Motor Show this year. Automotive News is reporting that Fiats, Alfa Romeos, Jeeps and Abarths will not be a part at the show, based on information circulating in the French media. There's a possibility that Maseratis will be displayed at a special section dedicated to upscale cars, but Maserati too will not have a show stand of its own. Ferrari will have a stand, but as it happens, the supercar maker has been a standalone brand since 2015. Skipping the Paris show follows FCA's decision not to take part in the Frankfurt show last year, and the two shows alternate as the biggest autumnal automotive show in Europe. Volkswagen will also not attend the event, and neither will Ford, Nissan or Infiniti. This has become a problem for car shows worldwide, including Detroit's North American International Auto Show. FCA has not released a formal statement about the matter, but a FCA spokesman, quoted by the French magazine L'Argus, reportedly said that the sales and publicity brought in by the show stand would not justify the costs of attending. The news mirrors Volvo's newly announced plan to not take part at the next Geneva Motor Show, but to arrange "bespoke activities" to introduce its cars instead. Related Video:

Bosch fined $57.8 million by DOJ for price fixing and bid rigging

The US Department of Justice has been investigating bid rigging and price fixing among automotive parts suppliers for years, and so far the agency has leveled nearly $2.5 billion in fines against 34 companies. The latest business to be caught in this ongoing crackdown is Germany's Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosch), the world's largest independent auto component maker, and it agrees to pay a $57.8 million criminal fine to the Feds. According to the DOJ, Bosch has agreed to plead guilty to pricing fixing and bid rigging for spark plugs and oxygen sensors supplied to the former DaimlerChrysler, Ford and General Motors. The rigging is said to have occurred between January 2000 and July 2011. Bosch also allegedly played foul with starter motors sold to Volkswagen from January 2009 until at least June 2010. Bosch and other companies allegedly conspired on the pricing for bids to submit to automakers, and sold the parts at noncompetitive prices. The DOJ filed a one-count felony charge in US District Court for these actions. The company's plea is still subject to court approval, though. Bosch is only the third European company to be charged in this investigation, according to the DOJ. So far, many of the fined businesses have been from Japan, including Takata, NGK and others. Some execs have claimed price-fixing has been the standard operating procedure in the auto parts industry for a long time. Robert Bosch GmbH Agrees to Plead Guilty to Price Fixing and Bid Rigging on Automobile Parts Installed in U.S. Cars Robert Bosch GmbH, the world's largest independent parts supplier to the automotive industry, based in Gerlingen, Germany, has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $57.8 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for spark plugs, oxygen sensors and starter motors sold to automobile and internal combustion engine manufacturers in the United States and elsewhere, the Department of Justice announced today. According to the one-count felony charge filed today in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan, Bosch conspired to allocate the supply of, rig bids for, and to fix, stabilize and maintain the prices of, spark plugs and oxygen sensors sold to automobile and internal combustion engine manufacturers such as DaimlerChrysler AG, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Company and Andreas Stihl AG & Co., among others, in the United States and elsewhere.

Fiat Chrysler recalls 1.6M vehicles to fix Takata airbags

DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler is recalling more than 1.6 million vehicles worldwide to replace Takata front passenger airbag inflators that can be dangerous. Takata inflators can explode with too much force, hurling shrapnel into drivers and passengers. At least 23 people have died from the problem worldwide and hundreds injured. The recall covers the 2010 through 2016 Jeep Wrangler SUV, the 2010 Ram 3500 pickup and 4500/5500 Chassis Cab trucks, the 2010 and 2011 Dodge Dakota pickup, the 2010 through 2014 Dodge Challenger muscle car, the 2011 through 2015 Dodge Charger sedan, and the 2010 through 2015 Chrysler 300 sedan. It's part of the largest series of automotive recalls in U.S. history. About 10 million inflators are being recalled this year. Already Ford, Honda and Toyota have issued recalls in the latest round. Fiat Chrysler owners will be notified by letter and dealers will replace the inflators with safe ones. The company says it's not aware of any injuries in vehicles involved in this recall, but says it has plenty of replacement parts and is urging people to get the repairs done. "Recall service is free, we have replacement parts and dealers are ready to help," Mark Chernoby, FCA's head of safety for North America, said in a statement. The recall includes 1.4 million vehicles in the United States. Takata used the chemical ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate the airbags. But the chemical can deteriorate over time due to high humidity and cycles from hot temperatures to cold. The most dangerous inflators are in areas of the South along the Gulf of Mexico that have high humidity. The Fiat-Chrysler recall is part of a phased-in replacement of Takata inflators being managed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Owners can check to see if their vehicles have been recalled by going to airbagrecall.com and keying in license plate or vehicle identification numbers. More than three years after the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration took over management of recalls involving Takata inflators, one third of the recalled inflators have not been replaced, according to an annual report last year from the government and a court-appointed monitor. The report said 16.7 million faulty inflators out of 50 million under recall have yet to be fixed. Safety advocates say the completion rate should be far higher given the danger associated with the inflators.