The Local

Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini flew to China on Tuesday in order to promote a new system that will offer Chinese investors generous tax breaks if they invest in Italy's under-funded cultural sites.

The scheme will hand investors tax reductions of up to 65 percent if they pour cash into Italian heritage and will only be available to Chinese companies with registered offices in Italy.

“Attracting foreign investment has been, and will continue to be, one of the driving forces of this ministry,” Franceschini said in a statement on Wednesday.

There are seven key sites currently seeking substantial investment, including Emperor Hadrian's summer villa outside Rome, the Etruscan tombs of Cerveteri, the Greek temples in Agrigento and the former residence of the Bourbon kings of Naples in Caserta, Campania.

Italy's treasures are beset by funding shortfalls which are in no small part down to the incredible volume of historic sites the country has to maintain.

With 52 world heritage site, the country is the most Unesco-rich in the world. However, its sluggish economy has seen successive govements slash the culture budget. 

In addition, corruption and mismanagement has caused millions to disappear into thin air.

Earlier this year, it emerged houses were being rented for as little as €5 a month in the grounds of Caserta's Bourbon palace.

Italy is increasingly tuing to the private sector to fund much-needed restorations.

Rome's Trevi Fountain recently underwent a €2.2 million face-lift funded by the fashion house, Fendi, and the Spanish Steps are currently being spruced-up by designers Bulgari.

During his time in Beijing, Franceschini also inaugurated a new programme aimed at attracting more Chinese visitors to Italy.

“A new scheme called 'China Friendly' will try to improve the offering of Italy's cultural destinations for Chinese visitors,” the Ministry said.

“It will also create new links between museums, towns and cities in both countries a bid to open up new destinations.”

The number of Chinese tourists visiting Italy has increased sharply in recent years and the Chinese are now the seventh largest national demographic visiting Italy, with over 2.2 million spending time in the country in 2014.

With the number of Chinese tourists on the rise, Beijing policemen were even called in to patrol top tourist sites in Milan and Rome earlier this year, in an attempt to help their travelling countrymen feel safer.  

The harrowing task of recovering decomposing migrant bodies from a fishing boat that sank with hundreds of people aboard is finished over a year after it sank, but Italian firefighters' spokesman Luca Cari is still tormented by the horror he witnessed.
   
"There were five (migrants) per square metre inside the boat," he said in an article published by Panorama weekly on Thursday.
   
It was the worst maritime tragedy in the Mediterranean since World War II, leaving only 28 survivors.
   
The disaster happened when the converted wooden fishing trawler collided with a Portuguese merchant ship that had responded to its SOS signal.
   
The impact caused panicked passengers to surge to one side of the boat and it keeled over in pitch darkness.
   
Months later, the wreck was recovered and brought to Sicily. As firefighters pulled the final corpse free last week, Italian prosecutors put the number of victims of the April 2015 tragedy off Libya at 700.
   
The bodies were found everywhere, from the well of the anchor chain to the tiny underfloor compartment where the bilge pump sits, to the engine room, Cari said.
   
It was clear from their positions that many had fought tooth and nail to get out when the boat rolled - a struggle which proved futile.
   
"The image of their attempt to escape from the ship as it was sinking will be printed forever on our retinas," said Paolo Quattropani, one of the firemen who lead the operation in Sicily.
   
They found the bodies of children, still clutched in the arms of their mothers, and did not have the heart to separate them, Cari said.
   
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had vowed to give all of the victims decent burials to highlight the human cost of the ongoing migrant crisis on Europe's southe shores.
   
Since 2014, more than 10,000 migrants have died or are feared to have drowned while attempting the perilous jouey to Europe by sea, most losing their lives in the central Mediterranean, according to the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR).
   
On Wednesday, rescue teams who pulled over 550 migrants to safety from rickety vessels in the Mediterranean on Wednesday said they had recovered 22 bodies they had found lying in a pool of fuel and water at the bottom of a dinghy.

Giuseppe Alvaro, 33, a member of the powerful 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate in southe Italy, was surprised by police as he hid in an olive oil mill near Monterosso Calabro in the Calabria region.
   
Alvaro, who had been on the run since 2007 and was wanted for money laundering and possessing illegal arms, gashed his leg throwing himself out of a window and broke his ankle on landing, police said in a statement.

He was easily apprehended, clapped in irons, and taken to hospital for his injuries.
   
Alvaro had taken over command of a 'Ndrangheta clan following the arrest of his father, a known criminal boss, in 2005, and his orders were followed to the letter by his footsoldiers, police said.
   
Italy's Interior Minister Angelo Alfano congratulated officers on a successful sting on the acting head of "one of the 'Ndrangheta's most powerful clans".
    
Notoriously ruthless, the 'Ndrangheta has surpassed the Sicilian Mafia and the Naples-based Camorra thanks to the wealth it has amassed as the principal importer and wholesaler of cocaine produced in Latin America and smuggled into Europe.
   
That trade is worth billions and previous police operations have indicated that the 'Ndrangheta has well-established links with Colombian producer cartels, Mexican crime gangs and mafia families in New York and other parts of North America.
   
The organization is made up of numerous village and family-based clans based in Calabria, the rural, mountainous and under-developed "toe" of Italy's boot.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Twitter that the MS Aquarius, which it charters along with French NGO SOS Mediterranee, had picked up over 200 migrants.

The passengers, who had been trying to reach Europe via the shores of Italy, had "been on (a) rubber dinghy with 22 dead bodies for hours on end", it said on Twitter.

"Unclear how people died. When team approached (the) dinghy, dead bodies were at (the) bottom of (the) boat in a pool of fuel and water," it added.

The Italian coastguard said the MY Phoenix, chartered by the Malta-based foundation MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) had picked up another 354 people.

More than 3,200 migrants were rescued from the Mediterranean on Tuesday in 25 separate operations.

The latest arrivals take the number of migrants to have landed in Italy this year to more than 80,000, according to the UN's refugee agency. Most of them are Africans.

Since 2014, more than 10,000 migrants have died or are feared to have drowned while attempting the perilous jouey to Europe by sea, most losing their lives in the central Mediterranean, the UNHCR says.

It is the first time the promotion of a plant-based diet has been included among the political aims of a local govement in Italy.

“The promotion of vegan and vegetarian diets is a fundamental act in safeguarding our environment, the health of our citizens and the welfare of our animals,” the programme stated.

The council says it will spend the next five years educating the city's children about the issues surrounding food in order to reduce the amount of animal products eaten by future generations.

“Leading medical, nutritional and political experts will help promote a culture of respect in our schools, teaching children how to eat well while protecting the earth and animal rights,” the programme continued.

But the plan has raised a few eyebrows in the city, where most restaurants still serve up traditional dishes made from the renowned local meats and cheeses that have been a staple for generations.

“Great foods like wild boar Ragu and Chianina steak are already disappearing from the menu once famed for its meats, wines and cheeses,” Turin resident Elena Coda told The Local.

“At the same time there are more and more vegan and vegetarian eateries,” she said, adding that the city now boasts 30 vegetarian or vegan restaurants, the majority of which have opened in the last few years.

“I'm not sure if the trend will continue and expect there will be an inevitable backlash sooner or later.”

But the new council's environment assessor, Stefania Giannuzzi said the aim was not to damage local restaurants and businesses.

“We have total respect for our food heritage, our restaurants and nothing against the meat industry,” she told Corriere.

"I'm a vegetarian and have been for 20 years. But in reality, this programme isn't something I instigated – it's just an extension of schemes which have been in place for years.”

Elsewhere in Italy, parents have been criticized for raising their children vegan after two recent high-profile cases which saw toddlers being hospitalized due to malnourishment.

Read more: One-year-old vegan weighing 5kg hospitalized in Milan

In spite of, or perhaps due to Turin's well-documented pollution problems, the inhabitants of Turin are fairly green-minded and the city is awash with organic farmers markets and eco-friendly supermarkets.

Each year since 2001 the council has funded a popular festival for vegetarians known as 'Vegfestival'.

“I'm not saying eating meat is bad or wrong, the information these initiatives are based on are from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).”

In recent years a number of high-profile UN reports have revealed the devastating effects of meat consumption on our planet and our health.

In 2006, FAO reported that the meat and dairy industry is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions each year than all of the world's transportation each year.

A more recent, but no less controversial, report from last year suggested that the consumption of meat – and processed meats in particular – was strongly linked to the development of cancer.

A gladiator-banning edict was passed by interim mayor, Francesco Paolo Tronca, in November, but expired in June, prompting scores of men to don ancient armour, tufted helmets and leather sandals in a bid to find their fortune on the streets of the Eteal City.

But Raggi, who is determined to clean-up Rome's image, wasted no time in banishing the illegal gladiators once more during her first council meeting on Tuesday.

At the meeting, the city's new Five Star Movement council introduced a new ordinance against the photo-souvenir workers, who authorities claim can make up to €2,000 a week.

In addition to the ban, the gladiators will be fined if they are caught peddling their wares.

“Rome is finally off and running!” Raggi posted on Facebook following the meeting.

“From tomorrow, a new ordinance will impose sanctions of up to €400 against the photo gladiators,” she wrote.

The new rules will also hit the operators of unlicensed rickshaw tours who line up in front of the Colosseum each day hoping they can - literally and figuratively - take tourists for a ride.

For many tourists, a photo with a gladiator (they call themselves gladiators, but most dress as Roman centurions) in front of the Colosseum or Pantheon may seem like a bit of harmless fun.

However, previous administrations have sought to stop them from operating following a string of complaints from unsuspecting tourists, who are frequently stung for anything up to €50 after being sweet-talked into a snap.

But they don't just have a reputation as rip-off merchants. In the past, gladiators have been snapped groping female tourists and last summer one group was even filmed robbing €100 from the wallet of a Romanian joualist after he posed for a photo.

But the gladiators say they have been unfairly victimized.

“I'm taking home between €40 and €50 a day” one centurion told La Repubblica. “I can only ask for a free offer, which means I take anything between one and five euros per photo.”

“Following the previous ban, I was forced to beg for money on the street because I had no other income,” the centurion added.

After being made redundant once more, other gladiators insisted they enrich the cultural sites of the capital.

“We're just part of the attraction and add to the atmosphere,” another explained.

“We also help with security around here. Near the Colosseum we stopped a robbery the other day and once helped take down a man who was wielding a knife.” 

Public prosecutors in Naples said on Wednesday that three men were seized along with a haul of fake notes, in denominations of €20, €50 and €100, which had a nominal value of €6.5 million.

The bills were being cranked out by "sophisticated machines and state-of-the-art technology" in an apartment in Casavatore, in the northe suburbs of Naples, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

It is believed to be the first time in Europe that police have seized a counterfeit setup targeting the new €20 note, it said.

The €20 note was introduced by the European Central Bank (ECB) only last November, boasting an array of "feel, look, tilt" defences designed to thwart forgers.

Features include a "portrait window" that becomes visible on both sides when the note is held against the light, and symbols that become visible or change colour in ultra-violet light, the ECB says on its website.

When Austria threatened to re-introduce border controls at the Brenner Pass in April, it hit a nerve with Italy, and not merely because it risked exacerbating the refugee crisis.

Fearing the impact on trade and the economy – the historic crossing point is a crucial lifeline for exports to northe Europe – the Italian govement was swift to react, eventually leading Austria to back down, so long as its southe neighbour stemmed the flow of migrants across the border.

Photo: The Local Italy

The idea of "building a wall" is also sensitive in South Tyrol, which still struggles to heal from old wounds after the region was annexed to Italy by the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of the First World War.

Austria softened its stance a week before presidential elections were held, in which the far-right Freedom Party was narrowly defeated by the Green party.

But the anti-refugee party’s leader, Norbert Hofer, will now get another chance to become the first far-right head of state in the EU after Austria’s constitutional court annulled the result of the May 22nd election and ordered a re-run on October 2nd.

A victory for Hofer could reignite tensions at the Brenner Pass if the party seeks to reintroduce border controls 21 years after customs and immigration posts were removed.

“It’s incomprehensible to us that Austria should want to control the Brenner Pass,” Ao Kompatscher, the goveor of South Tyrol, told reporters in Rome on Wednesday.

“It’s not just an economic problem in terms of the crossing point being crucial for trade, but it is also a political problem. It sends out a bad message.

"The Brenner Pass became a central part of the EU discussion a few months ago – if there are controls at pass, an important symbol of EU unification, it could kill Europe.”

Adding to the conces is the continued arrival of migrants in Italy’s south. More than 3,200 people were rescued in the Mediterranean on Tuesday, bringing the number of migrants who have landed in Italy so far this year to over 80,000.

Kompatscher told The Local that “better controls” have been implemented across Italy which have helped to stymie the movement of migrants towards the north of the country as they seek to enter more prosperous EU states.

Under a govement plan, South Tyrol, which has a population of 511,000, must take in 0.9 percent of the total number of migrants who seek asylum in Italy.

As the measure got underway last year, migrant centres were hurriedly built across the region, with the majority being housed in the city of Bolzano.

Apart from in the comune of Brenner, other centres, managed by the charity, Caritas, have sprung up in Vipiteno, Malles, Tesimo, Vandoies, Val di Vizze and Brunico.

Last summer, thousands of migrants managed to cross over to Austria unchallenged, with the country processing 90,000 asylum claims – the second-highest among EU states per capita – in 2015.

Italy’s tiny neighbour, whose population is 8.74 million, is now trying to more than halve that figure this year.Kompatscher said there are currently 1,000 asylum seekers in South Tyrol and that the migrant situation is “under control”.

“We don’t have the same amount of people in transit as in 2015,” he added.

“So it’s not a problem right now. But people continue to arrive in the south, and we don’t know yet how Italy will continue to manage the situation. And depending on the Austrian elections, that could change.”

As she splashed around in the 17th century Baroque fountain, which recently underwent a €2.2 million restoration, she even stopped to blow kisses to onlookers.

Some tourists snapped photos of her, while others applauded her attempt. However, her time in the water was short-lived.

A policeman quickly intervened, dragging the woman out of the famous fountain and escorting her away through the crowd.

A video of the incident can be seen below.

The act was a clear bid to recreate the famous scene from Federico Fellini's 1960 film 'La Dolce Vita' in which the late Swedish actress Anita Ekberg jumps into the Trevi.

Unlike Ekberg, who for her celluloid attempt wore a black evening dress and fur shawl, the woman appeared to be clad in a bedsheet.

Ekberg's scene has over the decades sparked countless other recreation attempts.

In 2013, Italian actress Valeria Marini was on the receiving end of a €160 fine after she immersed herself in the Trevi to have an 'Ekberg moment' of her own.

Even though historically the city's fountains were used by citizens for things like bathing and washing clothes, mode Romans don't take kindly to anybody doing anything except admiring them.

In fact, last year the authorities grew so tired of people (mostly tourists) taking illegal dips they doubled fines for transgressors to €400.

It seems to have made little difference. Earlier this month, three bikini-clad women were snapped cooling off in the city's 17th century Fontana dell'Acqua Paola.

In total, the European Commission slapped more than €2.9 billion in fines on some of Europe's largest truckmakers, including Sweden's Volvo and Germany's Daimler, after it found that they had broken EU antitrust rules by rigging prices.

It follows a long investigation covering the years between 1997 and January 2011.

"We have today put down a marker by imposing record fines for a serious infringement," said Margrethe Vestager, the commissioner for competition, in a statement.

"In all, there are over 30 million trucks on European roads, which account for around three quarters of inland transport of goods in Europe and play a vital role for the European economy. 

"It is not acceptable that MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco and DAF, which together account for nine out of every ten medium and heavy trucks produced in Europe, were part of a cartel instead of competing with each other. For 14 years they colluded on the pricing and on passing on the costs for meeting environmental standards to customers. This is also a clear message to companies that cartels are not accepted."

Germany's Daimler was fined the highest amount, around €1 billion. Italy's Iveco was told to pay up to €495 million, while DAF Trucks received a fine of €753 million. Germany's MAN, which is part of Volkswagen, escaped punishment because it had revealed the existence of the cartel to the Commission.

All companies acknowledged their involvement and agreed to settle the case, said the statement.

Iveco was formerly part of Fiat and is now owned by CNH industrial.

As she splashed around in the 17th century Baroque fountain, which recently underwent a €2.2 million restoration, she even stopped to blow kisses to onlookers.

Some tourists snapped photos of her, while others applauded her attempt. However, her time in the water was short-lived.

A policeman quickly intervened, dragging the woman out of the famous fountain and escorting her away through the crowd.

A video of the incident can be seen below.

The act was a clear bid to recreate the famous scene from Federico Fellini's 1960 film 'La Dolce Vita' in which the late Swedish actress Anita Ekberg jumps into the Trevi.

Unlike Ekberg, who for her celluloid attempt wore a black evening dress and fur shawl, the woman appeared to be clad in a bedsheet.

Ekberg's scene has over the decades sparked countless other recreation attempts.

In 2013, Italian actress Valeria Marini was on the receiving end of a €160 fine after she immersed herself in the Trevi to have an 'Ekberg moment' of her own.

Even though historically the city's fountains were used by citizens for things like bathing and washing clothes, mode Romans don't take kindly to anybody doing anything except admiring them.

In fact, last year the authorities grew so tired of people (mostly tourists) taking illegal dips they doubled fines for transgressors to €400.

It seems to have made little difference. Earlier this month, three bikini-clad women were snapped cooling off in the city's 17th century Fontana dell'Acqua Paola.

Scientists made the startling discovery while carrying out research into the historical eruption pattes of the Alban Hills volcanic complex over the last 600,000 years.

“The surprising results reveal these volcanoes are anything but extinct,” explained INVG geophysicist Fabrizio Marra, who studied the hills with colleagues from Rome's Sapienza University.

“They are moving out of a dormant state and  are waking up.”

Having shown no sign of activity for the last 36,000 years, the lush green Alban Hills are today a popular spot for day-tripping Romans, located just 20 kilometres south of the capital.

Scientists say the long-empty magma chambers beneath the volcanic hills are once again filling up with red-hot gasses and molten rock.

A number of indicators have confirmed the findings, including recent satellite data which show the hills are rising up by 2-3mm each year due to the build-up in pressure below the ground.

Geological cracks and fissures in the area also show signs they have expanded considerably over the last 2,000 years - the blink of an eye in geological terms.

“We will now need to closely monitor the volcanic area for the foreseeable future,” explained Mara.

But while it has been confirmed that volcanic activity is on the rise, experts say lava won't be spilling from craters in the Alban Hills anytime soon.

“It's difficult to say when another eruption could happen, but we are probably talking about a thousand-year time period,” Mara said.

Historically, eruptions have occurred in the area once every 40,000 years.

The checks were carried out at an apartment near Bari at the request of French authorities.

The Tunisian man, who was among seven arrested on Monday in connection with the attack, lived near Bari for several years before retuing to France, La Stampa reported on Tuesday. The apartment was found empty, invesigators said.

The suspect allegedly supplied arms to 31-year-old Tunisian-bo Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who drove a refrigerated truck into crowds enjoying a Bastille Day fireworks display on the city's waterfront, the Promenade des Anglais, killing 84 and injuring 202.

Security was upped at the border with France on Friday as reports came in that an accomplice may have fled to Italy.

French investigators have yet to find links between Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, who had French citizenship, and the Islamic State group which claimed responsibility for the caage, France’s Interior Minister Beard Cazeneuve said on Monday.

Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was shot dead after the attack.

On Tuesday, Italy's Foreign Ministry confirmed that five Italians were killed in the attack.

The bodies of Carla Gaveglio, 48, Maria Grazia Ascoli, 77, Gianna Muset, 68, Angelo D’Agostino, 71, and 90-year-old Mario Casati were formally identified by French authorities, the ministry said in a statement.

Their families have been informed.

“[Foreign Minister] Paolo Gentiloni and the ministry express our sympathy and solidarity to the families and friends of the victims of this barbaric attack.”

A man identified as 31-year-old Tunisian-bo Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a refrigerated truck into crowds enjoying a Bastille Day fireworks display on the city's waterfront, the Promenade des Anglais, killing 84 and injuring 202.

Meanwhile, checks were carried out in Italy on Monday on a suspected accomplice, resident in Puglia, of Bouhlel, who was shot dead after the attack.

Read more: Suspected Nice attack accomplice 'resident in Puglia'

"Sardinia is renowned as one of only three regions in the world with an exceptionally high proportion of centenarians," Tiziana Life Sciences founder, Gabriele Cerrone, said in a press release.

The samples acquired all come from the region of Ogliastra, in southeast Sardinia.

Ogliastra lies in what has been dubbed a 'Blue Zone' - an area of exceptionally high longevity, inside which one in every 2,000 residents can expect to live beyond the age of 100.

But extreme longevity in central Sardinia has posed a conundrum for scientists for decades.

Ogliastara was for hundreds of years made up of isolated rural communites of shepherds, who lived in its mountain towns. And a lack of outside influence means the area's gene pool is very narrow.

Communities with narrower gene pools usually show a greater propensity to illness and disease and yet people from Ogliastra are 50 times more likely to live to 100 than American or British citizens.

To date, explanations for why people from Ogliastra live so long have generally focused on lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise and the quality of inhabitants' relationships, but Tiziana Life Sciences is now hoping to find a solid genetic base for the region's longevity.

The newly acquired data-bank includes over 230,000 separate samples of DNA, including things like vials of frozen spit, blood and hair.

Each sample will now be studied in depth and new technologies used to map the DNA of long-living Ogliastrans.

What's more, each sample has already been matched and catalogued with population data and medical records stretching back over 400 years, which will give scientists the best chance of uncovering the genes responsible for the region's exceptional longevity.

“The acquisition represents an opportunity to study a unique collection of DNA samples from a homogeneous and well-characterized population,” explained professor Napoleone Ferrara, a board member at Tiziana Life Sciences.

“This could advance our understanding of aging and other key pathophysiological processes and potentially result in diagnostic and therapeutic advances,” Ferrara added.

The company purchased the DNA collection following the collapse of its previous owner, the Cagliari-based Shardna S.p.a, and has announced the creation of an Italian subsidiary company, LonGevia Genomics Srl, which will oversee the management of the DNA bank. 

The checks were carried out at an apartment near Bari at the request of French authorities.

The Tunisian man, who was among seven arrested on Monday in connection with the attack, lived near Bari for several years before retuing to France, La Stampa reported on Tuesday. The apartment was found empty, invesigators said.

The suspect allegedly supplied arms to 31-year-old Tunisian-bo Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who drove a refrigerated truck into crowds enjoying a Bastille Day fireworks display on the city's waterfront, the Promenade des Anglais, killing 84 and injuring 202.

Security was upped at the border with France on Friday as reports came in that an accomplice may have fled to Italy.

French investigators have yet to find links between Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, who had French citizenship, and the Islamic State group which claimed responsibility for the caage, France’s Interior Minister Beard Cazeneuve said on Monday.

Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was shot dead after the attack.

On Tuesday, Italy's Foreign Ministry confirmed that five Italians were killed in the attack.

The bodies of Carla Gaveglio, 48, Maria Grazia Ascoli, 77, Gianna Muset, 68, Angelo D’Agostino, 71, and 90-year-old Mario Casati were formally identified by French authorities, the ministry said in a statement.

Their families have been informed.

“[Foreign Minister] Paolo Gentiloni and the ministry express our sympathy and solidarity to the families and friends of the victims of this barbaric attack.”

A man identified as 31-year-old Tunisian-bo Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a refrigerated truck into crowds enjoying a Bastille Day fireworks display on the city's waterfront, the Promenade des Anglais, killing 84 and injuring 202.

Meanwhile, checks were carried out in Italy on Monday on a suspected accomplice, resident in Puglia, of Bouhlel, who was shot dead after the attack.

Read more: Suspected Nice attack accomplice 'resident in Puglia'

FCA pledged to "cooperate fully" with the probes by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department which, according to Bloomberg, are examining whether the carmaker violated US securities laws.

In January a Fiat Chrysler auto dealers group accused FCA US of financially rewarding dealerships that falsely reported higher car sales, inflating the auto giant's results.

Dealers of the Napleton group in Illinois and Florida sued FCA US for racketeering and fraud and said the company's practices unfairly harmed their businesses, which declined the payments.

The lawsuit also challenged the validity of FCA sales figures that have shown rapid growth.

FCA strongly denied the allegations, dismissing the arguments as the product of "two disgruntled dealers" who failed to fulfill their commitments to FCA.