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New auto loans could soon extend out to 84 months

Cars and trucks are more expensive than ever before. In order to boost sales and help consumers afford new vehicles, automakers are offering longer and longer terms for auto loans. This past week, Bloomberg reported that FCA's Ram Trucks division is currently offering the longest loans. Some stretch to 73 months. Jeep, Fiat and Chevy aren't far behind. More noteworthy is that we'll likely soon see lenders moving from 73-month to 84-month loans. That's seven years worth of interest. More than two-thirds of US auto sales come from light trucks like the Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado and Ram 1500. The average transaction price of a new vehicle is well over $30,000. It's not difficult to spec out a heavily-optioned truck up to $60,000. Vehicles depreciate from the moment they roll off a dealer lot, and these six or seven-year loans could hurt consumers and lenders both in the long run. The U.S. Senate voted last week to kill rules that would prevent discriminatory auto lending. These Obama-era guidelines were meant to curtail lenders who offered higher loans based on race, religion, sex or national origin. Related Video: News Source: Bloomberg Chevrolet Fiat RAM Car Buying car loan car values

Abarth marks 50 years of 595 with special edition Fiat 500

Abarth presented its original 595 at the Turin Motor Show in 1963. It was the car that put the Scorpion marque on the map and propelled the original Fiat 500 into hot hatch territory. And to mark that occasion, Fiat's performance brand is launching the special edition you see here.
Revealed here ahead of its public debut at next week's Frankfurt Motor Show, the new Abarth 595 50th Anniversary Edition packs a 1.4-liter turbo four with 180 horsepower (20 more than the standard 500 Abarth) channeled through the Abarth Competizione gearbox to the front wheels. The Scorpion brand has also retuned the suspension, fitted 305-millimeter Brembo discs, 17-inch wheels and installed a variable back-pressure exhaust.
Billed as the most powerful 595 to date, the special edition is identifiable by its matte white paint, red racing stripes and retro logos. Step inside and you'll find red leather buckets with white trim. Only 299 examples will be made, but don't go looking for this in US showrooms, as the Abarth range and the Fiat 500 upon which it's based is different in the two markets. Read more in the official press release below.

Fiat Chrysler posts $690M Q1 loss

If there is one thing that should be remembered when looking at quarterly and annual earnings, it's that the headline numbers rarely tell the whole story when it comes to an automaker's health. Chrysler's first-quarter earnings are just such an example.
Yes, the Auburn Hills-based manufacturer lost $690 million, which is quite a large sum of money. The reasons for the loss, according to Chrysler, were "Unfavorable infrequent items," which includes a $504 million payment to rid itself of the debts it took on for prepaying the UAW's VEBA healthcare trust. Chrysler was also hit with a $672 million charge to the UAW, which was part of a deal that allowed Fiat to purchase the remaining shares of Chrysler owned by the VEBA.
Ignoring those one-time deals, the first quarter was quite a successful one for Chrysler. It would have made $486 million if you erased the merger costs, which would have been a year-over-year increase of $320 million. Even more promising is the fact that Chrysler snagged the largest increase in market share of any automaker during Q1 at 1.1 percent, bringing its overall share to 12.7 percent of the US market. Chrysler saw a 30-percent improvement in sales of trucks and SUVs, along with an 11-percent increase in year-over-year sales and a 23-percent increase in revenue, to $19 billion.