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Marchionne defends FCA recalls, says Wrangler won't be all-aluminum

FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne recently received the 2015 Industry Leadership Award from the SAE Foundation. While speaking with the press after the event, the boss discussed his thoughts about some key issues regarding the company's future. One of the big regulatory issues facing FCA at the moment is the upcoming public hearing by the National Highway Traffic Safety into the automaker's handling of 20 recalls. Marchionne has no intention of testifying there, according to The Detroit News. The CEO also thinks that the government regulator is becoming much more aggressive in how it handles safety campaigns, but the Feds aren't necessarily doing a very good job of communicating that. "We need to work with the agency in a very cooperative and open way to make sure that we can meet their requirements for their new stance," he said, according to the newspaper. "We have no option but to comply with their requirements and we will. I have nothing to hide in this process. I just want clear rules." Marchionne also dropped the news that the company has changed its mind about making the next Jeep Wrangler totally from aluminum. "Because of the difference in cost, not just the new material but the actual assembly process, I think we can do almost as well without doing it all-aluminum," he said to The Detroit News. This seemingly opens the door for the model to remain in production in Toledo, OH, but only just a crack. Marchionne says that the new Wrangler would still use a large amount of aluminum, and there are "at least" two sites in contention for the assembly. The company doesn't have too long to make a decision because the model reportedly launches in 2017.

2019 Jeep Renegade reveals front fascia details

Over the past few months, details of the new 2019 Jeep Renegade subcompact crossover SUV have been trickling out via spy shots. This latest batch show that the front fascia, specifically the front bumper, is getting a number of subtle changes. Among the more noticeable tweaks are the new side vents in the bumper. They've been given a triangular design. Besides offering a nice chunky look, they also encompass the turn signals. This is a cleaner, better integrated look than the current model, which just leaves those indicators in their own little spots in the bumper. The foglights have changed, too. They're now significantly larger, and sit farther inboard in the main grille in the bumper. Moving up in the fascia, we see that the Renegade is getting some new headlights. At least on this model, there's an LED daytime running light halo in the headlamps. It also has a horizontal insert that appears to house an LED headlight element just like that on the new Wrangler. We've seen other prototypes with conventional halogen reflector headlights like on the current model, and we expect they will continue to be used on lower-spec models. There aren't many other changes to see. The rear of the truck looks roughly the same, as do the flanks. From past prototypes, we know that it will continue to have a massive touchscreen option for the infotainment. There also may be a hybrid model. It could be a very mild electric-assist like that on the four-cylinder Wrangler and the V8 and V6 Ram 1500s, or it could be something more. We expect to see the new Renegade revealed by the end of the year at the earliest, and certainly by the end of the next auto show season. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Featured Gallery 2019 Jeep Renegade Spy Shots View 9 Photos Image Credit: KGP Photography Spy Photos Jeep Crossover SUV Off-Road Vehicles jeep renegade

Fiat Chrysler dumped 40,000 unordered vehicles on dealers

In a move that echoes recent history, Fiat Chrysler has been making more cars and trucks than dealers in the U.S. are willing to accept, with Bloomberg reporting that at one point the automaker had built up a glut of around 40,000 unordered vehicles. That’s led some dealers to accuse FCA of reviving the dreaded “sales bank” accounting practice of obscuring inventory to improve the balance sheet. The company reportedly began building up its inventory of unordered cars this summer despite an industrywide slowdown in sales and an eagerness by some dealers to thin their inventories because rising interest rates are making it more expensive to hold unsold cars. The inventory build-up also coincided with Fiat ChryslerÂ’s efforts to find a merger partner, first with Renault, which fell through, then last monthÂ’s announcement that it will merge with FranceÂ’s PSA Group. FCA denies any such scheme and tells Bloomberg the rising inventory is down to a new predictive analytics system designed to better square supply with demand from dealers that is helping the company save money and narrow the numbers of unsold vehicles. The company recently agreed to pay a $40 million civil penalty to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle a complaint that it paid dealers to report fake sales figures over a span of five years. While no one is suggesting that FCA is in dire financial straits — the company saw higher than expected earnings in the third quarter and record profits in North America — the practice has strong historical precedent by Chrysler, which built up bloated inventories in the run-up to its two federal bailouts, in 1980 and 2009. It was also common at GM and Ford during the 2000s, when all three Detroit automakers struggled with excess manufacturing capacity and plummeting sales in the lead-up to the Great Recession. Back in 2012, CFO Magazine wrote about a report that explained automakersÂ’ rationale for the practice and how it works: Say fixed costs for a given factory are $100, and that the factory can make 50 cars. Consumers, however, demand only 10. Under absorption costing, if the company makes all 50 cars, its cost-per-car is $2. If it makes only up to demand, or 10 cars, the cost-per-car is $10. Although each car adds variable costs for steel and other parts, if those costs are low, the company still has an incentive to make more cars to keep the cost-per-car down.