Fiat Chrysler accuses General Motors of making ‘preposterous allegations’
Fiat Chrysler has said a recent filing by rival General Motors was like a “third-rate spy movie”, asking a US federal judge to dismiss its request to reinstate a racketeering lawsuit.
Fiat Chrysler, which is set to merge with French carmaker PSA next year, said the filing was “full of preposterous allegations”.
General Motors had last week petitioned a judge to reopen the case, claiming it had new information on foreign accounts used in an alleged bribery scheme involving Fiat Chrysler and the leaders of the United Auto Workers union.
General Motors’ lawsuit was thrown out by US federal judge Paul Borman last month, saying the rival carmaker’s alleged injuries were not caused by Fiat’s alleged violations.
When it first filed its lawsuit last year, General Motors claimed that Fiat Chrysler had bribed UAW officials over many years to gain advantages.
General Motors was seeking “substantial damages” at the time, which one analyst said could have amounted to at least $6bn.
Fiat today said that because it operates businesses more than 40 countries, the existence of foreign bank accounts belonging to the company is “unremarkable, and certainly not illegal”.
General Motors said it intends to uncover “the full extent of harm the FCA bribery scheme caused GM” in response to the rival’s filing.
“FCA’s corruption of the collective bargaining process remains undeniable,” the carmaker said in a statement.
In a letter to staff seen by Reuters, Fiat Chrysler chief executive Mike Manley said: “It is… clear to me that this series of attacks is directly related to our success in competing and winning where it matters, in the market.”
“The consistent strengths we’ve demonstrated over the last decade will be deployed to even greater effect as we complete our merger with Groupe PSA.”