Fiat Chrysler Puts a Price on Its EcoDiesel Punishment

The automaker posted an EBIT (earnings before taxes and interest) profit margin of 10.2 percent in the region, helped by heady Jeep and Ram sales and the 2016 decision to cull its unpopular small cars. That’s up from the record 8.4 percent margins seen in the second quarter of last year, and a 51 percent increase from Q3 2018.

Good times? Overall, yes, but net profit took a hit from last year’s 3.0-liter EcoDiesel saga. FCA expects to pay the federal piper for its undeclared auxiliary emissions control devices, with a dollar figure now attached to its penance.

The Q3 earnings report shows an $812 million charge related “to U.S. diesel emissions matters.” Because of this, FCA’s net profit — $642 million — was less than it could have been. Pre-tax earnings stood at $2.28 billion, a 13 percent increase over the same quarter in 2017.

“This charge does not represent an agreed settlement amount nor an admission of liability, but represents an estimate of the provisions under applicable accounting guidelines based on progress of settlement discussions with counterparties,” the automaker wrote. read more »

Study finds drivers trust active safety tech but are unaware of limitations

A study by the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety in September found that drivers of vehicles with advanced driver assistance system technologies in their vehicles found them to be generally helpful and trustworthy, but failed to understand the limitations of the system.

The study surveyed owners of 2016 and 2017 model-year vehicles equipped with any combination of forward-collision warnings, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warnings, active lane control, blind-spot monitors, rear cross-traffic alerts and adaptive cruise control. read more »