A legal battle between Jeep's Australian unit and former executives reportedly ended after a last-minute settlement.
The Sunday Herald Sun said Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Australia abruptly settled its lawsuit with ex-bosses Clyde Campbell, Veronica Johns and Campbell's lawyer wife Simone.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The case had been set down for a marathon three-week federal court trial beginning today (Monday 26 September). But FCA Sunday night issued a statement saying the matter would
not proceed, with no admissions of liability.
"The terms of the settlement are both confidential and mutually acceptable, the paper quoted FCA as saying.
FCA had accused Campbell, who ran the company's Australian arm between 2010 and 2013, of misspending A$30m on "uncommercial" deals with friends and former colleagues.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has traded charges in Australian federal court with its former Australian CEO.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataAs we reported last year, Canpbell had denied breaching his legal duties and said he acted on instructions from above after a lawsuit by the carmaker accused him of excessive spending and illegally enriching himself through commercial deals.
Fiat's civil lawsuit accused Campbell of breaching the law and his contract by giving cars to celebrities and inflating contracts to benefit his financial interests.
In a defence filed with the court, Campbell denied breaching his legal duties and said Chrysler Asia Pacific CEO John Kett and other senior company officials had approved his actions. He said he was told the company "would pull out of the market for right hand drive vehicles if he didn't increase sales to 20,000 per year within three years and they didn't care how he did it".
Kett has since left the company.
