AE eMagazine

Avg. New-Vehicle Transaction Price Up $3,900 Since 2009

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — Rising transaction prices for new vehicles have been a big contributor to the health of the auto industry this year, J.D. Power analysts reported this week. They noted that the average new-vehicle transaction price has risen $3,900 since 2009 to $29,600. Current transaction prices for new vehicle and the rise in ... Read More »

Sergio’s Challenge: Build Jeep Into FCA’s Top Global Brand By 2018

Auto analysts are skeptical that Sergio Marchionne, the hyperbolic chief executive of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, can meet his most ambitious goal: to nearly double Jeep’s global sales over the next four years, reported Reuters. Marchionne reiterated his aggressive target for boosting Jeep’s annual volume to 1.9 million, while pacing the floor of the New York ... Read More »

Fiat Chrysler’s Wall Street Debut Draws Muted Response

Investors cautiously greeted the Wall Street debut on Monday of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), a move that shifts the carmaker’s center of gravity away from Italy and caps a decade of canny dealmaking and tough restructuring by Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne, reported Reuters. “We’re finally taking Chrysler back” to the U.S. stock market, Marchionne said ... Read More »

Chrysler Recalls 184,000 SUVs to Replace Airbag Part

DETROIT, MI – Chrysler Group LLC announced Tuesday it is recalling 184,215 SUVs, including 126,772 in the U.S., to replace a part in the vehicles’ airbag systems, reported Michigan Live. The occupant restraint control modules in certain model-year 2014 Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs could have an electrical short-circuit, causing air bag warning ... Read More »

Point of Sale

Fiat Chrysler Crowns Merger With Wall Street Debut

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) makes its Wall Street debut to great fanfare on Monday, shifting the carmaker’s center of gravity away from Italy and capping a decade of canny dealmaking and tough restructuring by CEO Sergio Marchionne, reported Reuters. The world’s seventh-largest auto group has sought the U.S. listing to help to establish itself as ... Read More »

Fiat, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne 'Done' After 2018

Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat SpA and Chrysler Group LLC, plans to step down at the end of 2018 after completing a five-year turnaround plan for the new Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, reported The Detroit News. Marchionne, 62, told Bloomberg Businessweek that he will “undoubtedly do something else” after the plan, outlined earlier this year, ... Read More »

Tesla Aims to Leapfrog Rivals

Tesla Motors Inc. plans to offer hands-free highway driving in its Model S electric sedans in 2015, putting it as much as a year ahead of other luxury brands in offering autopilot functions in automobiles, according to people familiar with the company’s plans, reported The Wall Street Journal. Other auto makers, including General Motors Co. ... Read More »

Court Upholds $15.6M Verdict Against Toyota Dealerships

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The state Superior Court upheld a ruling last week that awarded the driver and five passengers in a Toyota minivan $15.6 million from Center City Toyota and Ardmore Toyota. The plaintiffs alleged that the dealerships had failed to properly inspect the vehicle, which malfunctioned and careened into a ravine, reports The Legal ... Read More »

N.Y. Judge Rules in Favor of Dealer in Case Against GM

YONKERS, N.Y. — An administrative judge from New York’s Department of Motor Vehicles said Wednesday that General Motors’ (GM) statewide sales benchmark is unreasonable, ruling that the automaker cannot enforce a post-bankruptcy agreement with one of its dealers, Beck Chevrolet Co. Inc. Administrative Law Judge Walter Zulkoski found that the manufacturer’s sales benchmark was unfairly ... Read More »