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Jeep still working to improve Cherokee's 9-speed auto

Fiat Chrysler is hoping an upcoming software update will stem the tide of consumer complaints surrounding its nine-speed automatic transmission. Owners of the 2014 Jeep Cherokee have reported a number of problems on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's SaferCar.gov website, since the new model and its troubled gearbox arrived way back in October 2013. The software update is "intended to keep the vehicle performing as intended, and to prevent durability issues from occurring in the future," an FCA spokesperson told Automotive News, and will be available to owners of both the 2014 to 2015 Jeep Cherokee and the 2015 Chrysler 200, which also uses the 9AT. While FCA will be notifying consumers of the update, owners can also request the software reflash if they happen into their dealer before then. Despite the widely documented problems with the transmission, the only complaints on NHTSA's website relate to the 2014 Cherokee – neither the 2015 Jeep nor the 200 have received any complaints. That bodes well as FCA prepares to begin deliveries of the 2015 Jeep Renegade and launch the Fiat 500X, both of which pair the 9AT with the 2.4-liter Tigershark four-cylinder. "We have had to do an inordinate amount of intervention on that transmission, surely beyond what any of us had forecast," FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne told Automotive News. "There are things that we have done – that we continue to do. Our proactive customer care intervention has actually increased in intensity on these vehicles in 2014, especially in the second half." What's fascinating about the 9AT's problems are that they haven't been the fault of manufacturer ZF, but have related to software that wasn't "mature" and had "teething problems," Marchionne has said previously, AN reports. With the lack of criticism for the 9AT in 2015 models and this pending software update, though, here's hoping that FCA has finally figured out its fuel-sipping gearbox. Related Video:

2017 Fiat Model Year Preview and Updates

With the 'new' having worn off of Fiat's 500, it's left to the FIAT 124 SPIDER to heat up the Fiat showroom. 124 Spider: The Fiat two-seater is all-new, and from a branding perspective a return to a designation popular with Fiat fans throughout the '70s. This, however, is more Hiroshima than Turin. Its platform is shared with Mazda's Miata, while Fiat supplies its own brand-specific sheetmetal and drivetrain. 500: Despite its relative freshness here in the States, the 500 is in its tenth year of global production. Changes in '17 are both minor and substantive. For the convenience of buyers (and sanity of dealers) trim levels are reduced to Pop, Lounge and Abarth; window stickers are lowered across the lineup; and options that were once available only in packages are now offered separately. The end result is some surprisingly good price points, from top (Abarth) to bottom. 500L: Fewer trim levels and lower prices, while still failing to answer the question: Why is this sold in the US? 500X: An Italianate take on the Jeep Renegade, which itself is a Jeep-oriented take on the 500X. Like the other models in the Fiat lineup, trim levels on the 500X are reduced to three – Pop, Trekking and Lounge – while the window stickers are lowered and options are now available separately.

Fiat gives outgoing Ferrari chairman $35M severance package

Luca di Montezemolo may not have wanted to leave Ferrari this way, but don't feel too bad for the departing chairman, because he'll be hitting the ground with a golden parachute so big that he'll never have to work again.
According to the latest reports, Fiat will pay Montezemolo 26.95 million euros (nearly $35 million) in severance pay. A little more than half of that will be paid in a lump sum of 13.71 million euros ($17.7M, equivalent to five times his annual salary) on January 31, 2015, with the rest to be paid within the next 20 years.
The payment is contingent on Montezemolo not going to work for a competitor, so don't expect to see him replacing Stephan Winkelmann at Lamborghini or Wolfgang Dürheimer at Bugatti any time soon. At least not until March 2017. Of course with that much cash on hand, the 67-year-old marquis need never work again, but considering how busy he's used to keeping himself, we'd be surprised if he didn't pop up again somewhere.