This hurts you if you have a pension, if you have a child in college or planning on going to college, if you invest in a mutual fund, etc. All those entities invest in companies. If a company's financial and sales data is fraudulent, eventually that information comes home to roost and the value of the company drops, lowering the value of your pension fund, your child's college endowment fund and your mutual fund.
In Fiat's case, it isn't about 6000 sales, it's about trends. If they were claiming 6000 additional retail sales of Fiat cars, they might be attempting to show that Fiat cars are selling MUCH better than they really are. That would be significant. They may also be trying to cheat their fleet MPG ratings by reporting fake sales of high mileage cars. This could have serious legal ramifications for FCA.
