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FCA's U.S. sales chief sues company for wrongful retaliation

Some fresh controversy is brewing at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles as The Detroit News reports that the head of U.S. sales has filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit against the company.. Reid Bigland, who's also in charge of the Ram truck brand, alleges that FCA made him a scapegoat for wrongful sales inflation practices and fixing vehicle sales statistics, which are currently under investigation by federal agents. Bigland claims that FCA executives punished him for cooperating with the federal investigators in the case by cutting his pay by more than 90 percent, according to the lawsuit he filed. The plan apparently was to use the money saved to pay for fines following any settlements made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. So far, the lawsuit alleges that FCA cost Bigland over $1.8 million in income. "They had the largest growth in retail sales in 17 years last year and refuses to pay him," Deborah Gordon, Bigland's lawyer in the case, said to The Detroit News. "Why is that? Because he participated in the SEC investigation and they don't like what he said." Bigland claims he just cooperated with the SEC investigation by testifying about FCA's sales reporting, from the time he took the position to the period prior to being appointed the company's U.S. sales chief. "In late 2018, presumably as a way to wrap up their investigation with some result, the SEC suggested to plaintiff that he admit to some wrongdoing as to defendants' monthly sales reporting," Gordon further said in a statement as part of the lawsuit. "The SEC also suggested a resolution involving some penalty to FCA. Because (Bigland) had not engaged in any wrongdoing, and there was no wrongdoing, he declined to do so." However, exacerbating the issue is the fact that Bigland reportedly sold his shares in the company last year, prompting FCA to act against him even more. FCA came under fire recently by federal agents in at least two separate investigations, potentially exposing conspiracy and corruption between company executives and private entities. The investigations are being led independently by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI. So far, eight convictions were reportedly secured, with one including former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Vice President Alphons Iacobelli, as one of the defendants. Iacobelli was one of the former top labor-relations executives for the automaker.

2020 Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock is as close as you can get to a new Demon

Although the Dodge Demon was an exclusive, one-year-only muscle car, Dodge has found ways of getting bits of that car to more people. First there was the Hellcat Redeye, that got a detuned version of the Demon engine, down from 840 horsepower to 797. Now there's the 2020 Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock. It starts with the Hellcat Redeye, but adds a bit of horsepower, and drag race-specific tires and suspension tuning to get one step closer to the monster Demon. The engine is basically the same supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8 as the Redeye, but with a new engine calibration that bumps up horsepower by 10 to 807, though torque stays the same at 707 pound-feet. It's coupled to the same eight-speed automatic as the Hellcat Redeye, but it has also been retuned to shift 100 rpm later at 6,400 rather than 6,300 to squeeze as much out of each gear as possible. The rear differential is a limited-slip unit and comes standard with a 3.09:1 gear ratio, which is optional on regular Hellcat Redeyes. The Super Stock also gets revised chassis components. Instead of the regular Hellcat Brembo six-piston brakes up front, it gets lighter four-piston Brembo calipers with slightly smaller rotors, all in the name of going faster at the drag strip. The suspension has been retuned to shift weight to the rear wheels and improve traction at launch. In Track mode, the suspension switches to fully firm rebound and compression at the rear, and firm compression and soft rebound at the front to help facilitate the weight transfer. It stays in this mode as long as full throttle is applied, and reverts to the standard Track settings when lifting off the throttle. The final piece of the drag racing puzzle are the wheels and tires. The regular Redeye's huge wheels and low profile tires are gone in favor of wheels that are just 18 inches in diameter. They're fitted with Nitto NT05R drag radials, the same make and model as on the Demon, at each corner for maximum traction at the strip. These are also the only indicators that you have a Super Stock. All the other badging is the same as the Hellcat Redeye, so only those in the know will recognize a Super Stock model. The final results of these drag-racing enhancements are impressive. Dodge claims a 0-60 time of 3.25 seconds, and a quarter-mile time of 10.5 seconds. Apparently it will finish three car lengths ahead of a regular Redeye at the drag strip. Top speed is less formidable at 168 mph, but that's a limit of the drag tires.

2018 Dodge Challenger Demon, 1970 Charger become Lego cars

As much as we all would have loved to buy one, Dodge made sure that it wouldn't be easy for everyone to own a 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon. It was only built for one model year, with a total of 3,000 units, and the last one was built last summer. And even if they were still available, each one started at just under $85,000, a substantial chunk of change. But thanks to Lego, there's a comparatively cheap way to get a new Demon: in tiny brick form. The toy company has added another kit to its Speed Champions line featuring a yellow Challenger Demon. Since the Speed Champions cars are quite small, it's a somewhat rough facsimile of the car, but it's still instantly recognizable. It's blocky, it has a big hood scoop and fat fender flares. It also has two sets of wheel covers to customize it. This kit has an advantage over a real Demon, too: it comes with a second car. The other one is a 1970 Dodge Charger in black. This is an even more faithful rendition, thanks in part to the real car's ruler-straight lines. It doesn't have customizable wheels, but you can choose whether to leave it stock, or stick on a little replica of a supercharger and hood scoop that poke through the hood. It ends up looking like Dominic Toretto's Charger from The Fast and the Furious. Besides the second car, the kit features a drag strip starting tree. It doesn't light up, but it does have a slider on the back that lifts up each set of colored bricks as it's pressed down. So you can have little drag races with the two cars. In total, everything is built with 478 pieces, and it will cost you $29.99. The kit is available now wherever Lego kits are sold, and even at the Dodge merchandise website. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.