FCA court action not affecting sales

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Australia (FCAA) is suing its former CEO, Clyde Campbell, over allegedly misappropriating up to $30 million in corporate funds, including cars for high-profile personalities such as Shane Warne, Harry Kewell and UK model Liz Hurley.

But the company that imports Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles in Australia says the ongoing court case involving its ex-CEO is not having a negative impact on the brands.

The allegations first came to light in early May 2015, when FCAA lodged a statement of claim with the Federal Court and now six months on the case is still ongoing.

But current CEO Pat Dougherty this week told motoring.com.au that most buyers are unaware or simply don't care.

"The way we measure that is we talk to our dealers. We say 'has any of this media coverage caused any deterrent in shoppers or buyers?' and they say most people don't know anything about it," said Dougherty.

As far as the court case goes, which has been widely reported in the financial and automotive media, Dougherty declined to comment.

"We're moving through the process, the case is still in 'discovery' period. We really aren't commenting on it."

Unlike some of FCAA's flagship products, such as the 350kW Chrysler 300 SRT, he legal process is not rapid. Lucy McLellan, FCAA's director of corporate communications, explained there would be another hearing in November 2015 and another in 2016.

"We hope for a conclusion that's in the best interests of the organisation," she said.

Dougherty reiterated that the issue isn't having a negative effect on the brand or sales, likening the legal proceedings to "a John Oliver interview I saw talking to [US government whistleblower] Edward Snowden".

"He asked people in the middle of Times Square in NY if they knew who Edward Snowden was. Half of them didn't know who he was and the other half confused him with Julian Assange from WikiLeaks," said the CEO.

"So I think that, to the extent that you have a person really interested in business or law, they may be following it, but I don’t think it's been a deterrent at all.

"In fact, I give the Australian population a lot of credit for saying we have a lot of integrity and if someone's done something wrong, they want to make sure it's fixed."