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Fiat Chrysler Australia executive in trouble over misuse of company funds

While the merger to create FCA was coming together, its managing director for Australia, Clyde Campbell, was allegedly racking up 30 million Australian dollars ($23.1 million) in spending for himself, family, and friends. Now, the former boss is facing a court case from the automaker's legal team for the purported misappropriation. Among the more opulent expenses that Campbell allegedly put on Chrysler's tab included a 40-foot yacht worth the equivalent of $308,000 and lavish Christmas parties for workers, according to The Age. Despite being required to only travel in economy class and get permission for international travel, he also reportedly racked up the equivalent of over $413,000 travel expenses. "The more we dug, the more we found," said an unnamed source to The Age. Campbell came to power in Australia as a general manager for DaimlerChrysler, and became managing director in October 2010. He was reportedly a close friend with former Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Ernst Lieb. After Lieb lost his wrongful dismissal lawsuit, Campbell allegedly helped his friend's partnership in an Aussie auto dealer by using FCA funds for financial support totaling the equivalent of about $3 million. All of this came to light when Pat Dougherty came over from the US to be president and CEO of FCA Australia in December 2014. The staff spilled the full story on Dougherty's first day. "I walked into his office and let it all out. I don't think he knew what hit him," another source said to The Age. A team of forensic accountants was brought in to investigate. The reason that this took so long to discover was that no one was paying attention. First, sales in Australia were growing under Campbell. Also, "in my opinion, back in Michigan, head office didn't have its eyes on the road. They only had eyes on the Fiat deal," an insider said to The Age. That confluence essentially provided the perfect storm for this huge spending. News Source: The AgeImage Credit: Giuseppe Cacace / AFP / Getty Images Government/Legal Chrysler Fiat lawsuit FCA

Junkyard Gem: 1992 Chrysler Imperial Landau

The Chrysler Imperial (sold as a separate marque and called, simply, the Imperial for the 1955-83 model years) was at the top of the Chrysler pyramid for many decades. For most of that time, it was a great big opulent statuswagon, slathered with chrome and powered by some of the most potent engines in the Chrysler inventory. For the early 1990s, however, the Imperial became a member of the many-branched K-Car family tree. Here's a solid-looking '92, now in its final parking spot in a Denver self-service wrecking yard. The 1990-92 Imperial wasn't a bad car, but it also wasn't much like the Imperials of past decades. Under the hood, the Chrysler 3.8-liter pushrod V6, which went on to a distinguished three-decades-long career in Chrysler minivans and Jeep Wranglers. It made a not-too-shabby-for-the-time 150 horsepower in 1992. The padded vinyl landau roof was looking extremely dated by the 1990s, but some Imperial buyers still went for this option. The 1992 Imperial had leather upholstery, but opinions differ as to whether Chrysler still referred to it as Soft Corinthian Leather by this time. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Better than Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Rolls-Royce, and Jaguar, according to this ad. The base price of the '92 Imperial was $26,705 (about 46 grand in inflation-adjusted 2016 dollars). A new 1992 BMW 525i listed at $35,600, while a 1992 Lexus ES300 was $25,250. The $23,500 Mazda 929, with rear-wheel-drive and 190 horses, seems like the steal of 1992 for luxury-car shoppers. Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 1992 Chrysler Imperial View 19 Photos Auto News Chrysler chrysler imperial

Almost 70 percent of FCA-PSA Groupe models to ride on two PSA platforms

With the merger between PSA Groupe and Fiat Chrysler having been officially announced this week, we still don't know where everything will settle once the process concludes. We covered the catalog of models herded by the combined company's 12 brands, all of which will remain for now. Profound changes must be afoot somewhere, though, else there'd be no reason for the tie-up. Automotive News has a report on one of the big moves, writing that "more than two-thirds of [PSA-FCA] production would be concentrated on just two platforms." Around 2.6 million cars built by the combined company would sit on PSA's Common Modular Platform, also known as the EMP1, for B-segment city cars, entry-level and mid-range C-segment sedans, and compact crossovers. Three million vehicles would ride on the EMP2 architecture intended for C- and D-segment cars and higher-end crossovers. Those figures account for around 5.6 of the 8.7 million vehicles the combined company expects to sell annually. AN didn't mention the Giorgio platform that's already spread throughout the FCA kingdom to support numerous current and future offerings like the next-gen Jeep Grand Cherokee, but did write that "larger Jeep models will continue to use FCA underpinnings." The body-on-frame chassis' under Ram trucks and the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator should hold pat. We'll wait for word on the fate of the Compact U.S. Wide platform carrying the Chrysler Voyager and Pacifica and Jeep Cherokee. Dodge products with questionable futures are anyone's guess; we've heard the Dodge Durango, still built on a Mercedes-derived platform it shares with the current Grand Cherokee, could go body-on-frame for the next generation, or die and have the Giorgio-based, three-row Jeep Grand Cherokee take its place. More mystery comes with the long-lived LA and LD platforms in the big sedan and coupe trio Chrysler and Dodge still milk quite successfully. And if there were ever a time for the Dodge Journey – last reported as a Giorgio recipient – to modernize or die, we don't know when that time is. Although FCA platforms have been designed with alternative powertrains in mind, AN says the PSA Groupe architectures "are more modern than FCA's equivalent platforms." After PSA acquired GM's Opel/Vauxhall division, the French company didn't waste time moving the Anglo-German products to in-house platforms, helping to put the formerly money-losing operations into the black in just 18 months.