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Fiat Chrysler will pay $70M to settle safety disclosure suit

FCA US will pay a $70 million civil penalty to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for failing to submit Early Warning Report data going back to 2003. The automaker will also provide any missing data since that time, and an auditor will monitor future compliance. NHTSA says the failures to report this information "stem from problems in FCA's electronic system for monitoring and reporting safety data, including improper coding and failure to account for changes in brand names." There are no allegations of any intentional deception by the automaker. NHTSA will wrap up the latest fine with the previous consent order against FCA US earlier this year for the automaker's handling of 23 recalls. The company will know owe the safety regulator a total of $140 million in cash, and there will be possibility of $35 million more in deferred penalties if FCA doesn't comply with the agency's requests. In a statement about the fine to Autoblog, FCA US said the automaker "accepts these penalties and is revising its processes to ensure regulatory compliance." The company strongly believes that it didn't miss any safety problems over the time with this problem. Early Warning Reports include information on deaths, injuries, crashes, and other potential safety concerns, and NHTSA often uses the data in investigations for possible recalls. In September, the safety agency first announced the automaker failed to submit these documents. At the time, the regulator's administrator Mark Rosekind promised to "take appropriate action after gathering additional information on the scope and causes of this failure." FCA US also released a statement then about the lapse and said the company notified NHTSA immediately after discovering the problem. FCA US is not the first company to run afoul of NHTSA's reporting requirement. The agency fined Triumph Motorcycles and Honda this year for similar lapses. It also punished Ferrari in 2014. U.S. DOT Fines Fiat Chrysler $70 million for Failure to Provide Early Warning Report Data to NHTSA WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has imposed a $70 million civil penalty on Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) for the auto manufacturer's failure to report legally required safety data. The penalty follows FCA's admission in September that it had failed, over several years, to provide Early Warning Report data to NHTSA as required by the TREAD Act of 2000.

FCA profits surge in second quarter

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles gave the cash register a beating in the second quarter, improving its net profit to 333 million euros ($364M US), which is a 263-percent jump over its reported Q1 profit of 92 million euros ($108M US). At the same time, FCA improved its global profit margin to 7.7 percent. Compared year-over-year, in Q2 2014 FCA reported net profit of 197 million euros making this year's Q2 a 69-percent increase, and profit margins a year ago were 4.9 percent. The two big factors for this increase are strong NAFTA sales and Jeep. In the US alone, Jeep sold 222,940 units in Q2 this year, a jump of almost 20 percent over the same period last year. Revenue in the NAFTA region totaled $18.8 billion, adjusted earnings before interest and taxes were $1.45 billion, both of those numbers more than doubling compared to 2014. The vastly better numbers come on marginally more global sales, 1,181,000 units sold in Q2 2014, 1,193,000 units sold in the same span this year. In the US, FCA began charging dealers one-percent more for vehicles to up the margins, a move that helped boost its US margin from 4.1 percent a year ago to 5.8 percent the first half of this year. The company is holding steady on its guidance of global deliveries at 4.8 million and its net profit guidance at $1.1 to $1.3 billion. It has increased its adjusted outlook for the year to $120.5 billion in revenue, and EBIT to "over $4.93 billion." News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio Earnings/Financials Chrysler Fiat Jeep FCA

Mopar teases four of 'nearly 20' SEMA Show concepts

Yesterday it was Chevrolet. Today, Mopar has dropped some SEMA knowledge, releasing a quartet of teaser images that give us some indication of what kind of cars, trucks, and crossovers Fiat, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram will be showing in Las Vegas. Like Chevy, Mopar's concepts utilize both production and concept accessories, although Fiat Chrysler has gone a bit more indepth on at least one of its concepts. Immediately, the most tantalizing teaser is the one shown above. Yes, that's the back of a Challenger, and aside from the bright orange accents on the gray body, you should take notice of the badge mounted on the spoiler – yes, that says "GT AWD." To be honest, such a vehicle wouldn't be a huge shock, as both the Challenger's LX platform-mates, the Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300, are offered with all-wheel-drive options. Still, adding such a vehicle to the production cycle would give Dodge a leg up on the rear-drive only Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro. Aside from that concept, FCA has also released teasers of a Ram-based concept, a 300-based concept, and what we're guessing is a Fiat 500X. We can't wait to see what the actual Fiat concept has to do with kiteboarding. As for the 300 and Ram, there's not a lot of hints on what sort of styling details they'll contain. The Chrysler has additional LED accents and what we're guessing is matte blue paint, while the Ram is based on a Hemi-powered 1500 with Rebel styling cues. This is just a very tiny sample of Mopar's final SEMA roster, which include "hundreds" of parts. There should also be a total of 20 vehicles covering all four former Chrysler Group brands, as well as Fiat. Naturally, we'll have plenty to report on each vehicle once the SEMA show kicks off in the next couple weeks.