FCA Under Investigation for Fudged Sales Numbers

2016 Ram 2500 Heavy Duty Laramie Limited (Credit: © Ram)

FCA has been on a sales-growth roll since its bankruptcy as it has now reported a record 75 straight months of sales increases. But this could soon come crumbling down as the automaker is now in warming waters as multiple federal agencies have launched an investigation into it possibly faking these sales numbers, according to Bloomberg.

In case you don’t remember, in April of 2016, FCA was slapped with a civil lawsuit from one of its dealership groups claiming that the automaker forced dealers to fake sales numbers. Though FCA brushed these accusations off as “baseless,” it quickly added some lengthy legalese to the end of its sales reports explaining its method for calculating sales.

The latter was the first smoking gun of potential tinkering with sales numbers, but the new investigation by the FBI, SEC, and Department of Justice tosses a little more fuel on the fire.

At this point, the investigation is still in its very early stages and the government agencies are visiting past and current employees of the company to gather information. The fed also paid a visit to FCA headquarters in Auburn Hills, MI. Should these accusations end up being true, we could see FCA get stuck with massive fines and possibly criminal charges for those involved in the scheme.

We’ll continue to monitor this developing situation and bring you updates as they become available. Stay tuned.