BMW probed by SEC over sales reporting

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating BMW, the German automaker confirmed Monday.

A source familiar with the investigation said the SEC is looking into the manner in which BMW reported its sales figures in the United States. The Wall Street Journal first reported this story.
BMW may have boosted its apparent sales figures by having dealers register cars that had not yet actually been sold to customers, the Journal reported.

A BMW spokesman confirmed that the company had been contacted by the SEC and was cooperating with the investigation.
Earlier this year, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles agreed to pay a $40 million fine for its sales-reporting practices. FCA (FCAU) admitted no wrongdoing in that case but, according the SEC, it had paid dealers to report "fake sales." FCA also maintained a database of unreported sales, which the company could later report to maintain a facade of year-over-year monthy sales increases for over six years, the SEC claimed.