Jeff Gilbert's Tales From The Auto Beat
FCA’s Five Year Plan
Friday June 1, 2018
Jeff Gilbert is a automotive reporter at WWJ-AM. He is host of WWJ-AM’s “The Car Chronicles,” which runs every afternoon and covers automotives, the auto industry, vehicles and news in auto.
His weekly podcast “Tales from the Auto Beat” ran on June 1, 2018. In this episode, he took a deep dive into Fiat Chrysler’s plan to become the most profitable carmaker in the U.S. He also looked at May’s surprisngly strong car sales, GM’s mobility plans, and a very interesting program that’s made Goodwill an auto supplier.
Rebecca Lindland, Kelley Blue Book analyst, comments on the FCA plan and its upcoming investments and brand evolutions. She called FCA’s 5-year plan “predictably aggressive” and commented on the practical solutions regarding the future of mobility and electrification.
Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist, Cox Automotive, joins Jeff to discuss May car sales. He commented on higher-then-forecasted sales and a robust market being helped by SUVs and trucks. He also commented that gas prices are not affecting the selling rate or the transaction prices. The big winners are larger SUVs as well as pickup trucks continuing to do quite well.