These Are FCA's Greatest (Possibly Exaggerated) Sales Achievements This Year

“Your word is your bond,” Melania Trump famously said. Or was it Michelle Obama?

We are pretty sure the current and potentially future First Ladies were not speaking about the words found in Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ monthly U.S. sales reports. Yet questions have arisen — once again — regarding FCA’s sales practices and reporting methodologies. This time, rather than lawsuits from a Maserati dealer that operates stores in New York, New Jersey, and Florida, or an Illinois dealer of core FCA brands, the questions are being asked by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In March, Napleton Automotive’s lawsuit (filed by the same lawyer hired by Recovery Racing to sue FCA-owned Maserati last year) accused FCA of “‘strong arm’ tactics to get dealers to falsify sales reports that benefit the auto maker by creating ‘the appearance that [Fiat Chrysler’s] performance is better than, in reality, it actually is,’” according to The Wall Street Journal.

On July 11, reports Automotive News, “Investigators from the FBI and the SEC visited FCA field staff in their homes and offices on July 11 as part of the probe.” In FCA’s own statement, the automaker said yesterday that, “In its annual and quarterly financial statements, FCA records revenues based on shipments to dealers and customers and not on reported vehicle unit sales to end customers,” and confirmed cooperation with both the SEC and the Justice Department.

But what are the actual claims? As automakers report model-specific U.S. auto sales figures at the beginning of every month, FCA typically delves into great detail regarding the prior month’s performance and the year-to-date results.

Here are some of the greatest achievements claimed in FCA’s sales reports this year, sales reports that were amended to include a lengthy disclaimer beginning with March’s results. We’ve cribbed the bullet points directly from FCA.

DECEMBER

• 69th consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains.
• Annual U.S. sales up 7 percent in 2015; sixth consecutive year of annual sales growth.
• Jeep brand sales up 42 percent; best monthly sales ever and best annual U.S. sales ever.
• Eight FCA US vehicles set records in the month of December.

JANUARY

• 70th consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains.
• Jeep brand sales up 15 percent; best January sales ever.
• “Overall, FCA US achieved its best January sales in nine years,” said Senior Vice President of FCA North America sales, Reid Bigland.
• Nine FCA US vehicles set records in the month of January.

FEBRUARY

• 71st consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains.
• Jeep brand sales up 23 percent; best February sales ever.
• “Overall, FCA US realized its best February sales in 10 years,” Reid Bigland said.
• Ram Truck brand sales, which include the Ram pickup, Ram ProMaster and Ram ProMaster City, were up 27 percent in February, the brand’s best February sales since 2002.

MARCH

• Dodge brand sales up 11 percent; Dodge Journey logs best March sales ever.
• Jeep brand sales up 15 percent; best March sales ever.
• Eight FCA US vehicles set records in the month of March.
• Sales of the Chrysler Town & Country minivan were up 148 percent in March, the minivan’s best March sales in nine years.

APRIL

• Ram Truck brand sales, which include the Ram pickup, Ram ProMaster and Ram ProMaster City, were up 12 percent in April, the brand’s best April sales since 2005.
• Jeep brand sales were up 17 percent in April, the brand’s best April sales ever and its 31st-consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains.
• Jeep Renegade and Jeep Compass each record best monthly sales ever.
• Seven FCA US vehicles set records in the month of April.

MAY

• FCA US LLC today reported U.S. sales of 204,452 units, a 1 percent increase compared with sales in May 2015 (202,227 units), and the group’s best May sales in 11 years.
• Reid Bigland: “Notwithstanding a challenging calendar, we managed to muscle our way to our strongest May sales in over 10 years.”
• Jeep brand sales were up 14 percent in May for its best monthly sales ever.
• In its second month on sale, the all-new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica minivan posted sales of 2,495 units.

JUNE

• The Jeep brand has set a sales record in every month dating back to November 2013.
• Sales of the Dodge Grand Caravan were up 79 percent last month for the minivan’s best June sales since 2008.
• In its third month on sale, the Pacifica minivan posted sales of 7,207 units.
• Four Jeep brand vehicles record their best June sales ever.

[Images: FCA]

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.