Topic: FCA being investigated for U.S. Sales reporting

[EV-Light]

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is at the center of an investigation led y the FBI and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the automaker’s U.S. sales reporting practices. The agencies visited the offices and homes of certain FCA field staff earlier this month, Automotive News reports.

The probe is said to still be in its early stages, two unnamed sources close to the issue told Bloomberg. The sources, who declined to elaborate on what was being investigated, asked to remain anonymous because the issue is said to be confidential. In addition to the automakers Auburn Hills headquarters, federal staff attorneys visited locations in Orlando, Dallas, and California linked to current and former employees.



More: http://www.motortrend.com/news/fca-investigated-u-s-sales-reporting/

[tooscoops]

meh...

i assume it's just about the punched cars... whatever. it's misleading for sales numbers, but who cares? a sold car is still sold, even if it's to the dealer... you could say the board members or something care, but why? it's still sold, they get paid, and the numbers show on the sales charts...

dealers are the only ones one the "hook" as it were, and it is their choice (usually) to punch the cars... if the deal makes sense, then do it... the customer who eventually buys the now used car, will get a heck of a deal, the dealership hits targets, the bosses get raises, and the cars still go on the road eventually...

[rrocket]

meh...

i assume it's just about the punched cars... whatever. it's misleading for sales numbers, but who cares? a sold car is still sold, even if it's to the dealer... you could say the board members or something care, but why? it's still sold, they get paid, and the numbers show on the sales charts...

dealers are the only ones one the "hook" as it were, and it is their choice (usually) to punch the cars... if the deal makes sense, then do it... the customer who eventually buys the now used car, will get a heck of a deal, the dealership hits targets, the bosses get raises, and the cars still go on the road eventually...

Not exactly.  It's much worse than you make it out.


FCA provided cash to dealers who filed false sales reports at the end of the month to boost the automaker’s delivery numbers. Napleton claims that dealers canceled the sales at the beginning of the next month.

It seems that corporate boasting was at the heart of the alleged deception — the practice aimed to keep FCA’s month-over-month sales streak alive.

[safristi]

...Sergio on the run to sell to China and retire to Napoli and sell contraband cigarettes.....

[OliverD]

meh...

i assume it's just about the punched cars... whatever. it's misleading for sales numbers, but who cares? a sold car is still sold, even if it's to the dealer... you could say the board members or something care, but why? it's still sold, they get paid, and the numbers show on the sales charts...

dealers are the only ones one the "hook" as it were, and it is their choice (usually) to punch the cars... if the deal makes sense, then do it... the customer who eventually buys the now used car, will get a heck of a deal, the dealership hits targets, the bosses get raises, and the cars still go on the road eventually...

Except the cars weren't being punched...

[tooscoops]

ahhh... as i said, i assumed... my bad.

it's strange regarding the point you quoted rr.... we can't just cancel a sale after it's rdr'd... it's done... sold... off the books. also, why would the dealer sue for getting paid to do something like that? so they did something shady, got paid to do it, backed out after the fact and now sue? that's worse than what fca did!

i wonder how much gets taken out of context... as in, was chrysler "paying" them to put the sales through by just giving them their volume bonus that they would have hit with those sales? if so... all they are doing is punching, and the dealerships involved tried to cheat the system by reneging on the "sales" after they get paid... if they gave them an added bonus plus let them "un-sell" the cars... yeah, pretty shady... but even then, all i see is guys bending rules to likely get paid bonuses!

sorry if i don't car that much, but lying about sales numbers so people who buy stocks might have incorrect information really isn't the kind of thing i care about... make a decent car, and sell it at a fair price.. the rest is for the suits to all figure out and complain about.