It's official: The US is suing FCA for violating emissions laws. As stated in a press release, the Justice Department - on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - filed a complaint in a federal court in Detroit (Michigan) against the American division of the group led by Sergio Marchionne.
The thesis is that nearly 104.000 vehicles with three-liter diesel engines have been “equipped with software that regulators were not notified of during the certification process and that those vehicles contain the defeat device”, the incriminating software that the German Volkswagen has deliberately used on 11 million cars worldwide, causing a scandal costing over 20 billion dollars to explode.
The US Justice argues that in doing so the emission control systems of FCA vehicles were able to work "differently, and less effectively, during certain normal driving conditions than federal emissions tests, resulting in an increase in emissions of harmful pollutants”.
At worst, the fine could be as high as $4,63 billion. The statement explains that the law called the "Clean Air Act" requires automakers to obtain certification of compliance before marketing a vehicle, demonstrating to the EPA that that vehicle will meet current emissions standards.
Car manufacturers “must inform certification applications about all emission control devices, justify their existence and explain why those that reduce the effectiveness of emission controls are not defeat devices”. Because the cars supplied with that software "cannot be certified".
For the Justice Department, on almost 104.000 between Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee, FCA has fitted "at least" eight software functions that "were not communicated in the application for certification of conformity". As a result, the cars in question meet emissions standards in the EPA's laboratory and standard testing, the statement said, but during certain on-road driving conditions they emit nitrogen oxides that are much higher than the EPA-allowed levels.
That's why the US government believes that the cars in question operate differently than described to the EPA, resulting in "uncertified and in violation of the Clean Air Act". This is what the same authorities claimed on January 12, when the group received a notification to that effect. Unlike then, the authorities claim that the vehicles contain the so-called defeat device, which Marchionne has always denied by refusing to accept any comparison with Volkswagen.
The EPA and the California Air Resources Board, the Californian authority for clean air, "continue their discussions with FCA to bring the cars in question into compliance with the law". The nature and timing of any resolution is "uncertain," the statement concluded.
on your part, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles says it is "disappointed" by the fact that the US Justice Department has decided to initiate legal action against the company. As it had already anticipated on May 17 in the wake of press rumors about an imminent lawsuit, the group "intends to defend itself vigorously, in particular against any allegations that the Company has deliberately schemed to install defeat devices to circumvent emissions tests in United States".
In a note, FCA Us – the American division of FCA – explains that she has been at work "for several months" with the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board, the Californian authority responsible for guaranteeing "clean air" in its reference state. During those months, FCA US explained, it conducted "extensive" vehicle tests, "to clarify questions concerning the emission control technology used" by the company in the 2014-2016 models of Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 vehicles with diesel engines.
Despite the initiation of the lawsuit, the group added, FCA Us – the American division of FCA – “will continue to work with EPA and CARB to resolve agency concerns quickly and amicably".
As communicated by FCA Us last week, the note continues, "the company has developed updated emissions control software that it believes solve the concerns of the EPA and the CARB" and has "formally" filed the request for Diesel Emissions Certification for 2017 model year Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500.
"Subject to EPA and CARB approval," FCA US intends to install the aforementioned updated emission control software on 2014-2016 models of the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 vehicles that ended up in the crosshairs of the authorities. "Fca Us believes that the concerns of the two agencies concerning the calibrations of the aforementioned vehicles would thus be resolved". The American division of FCA "expects that these updated software calibrations will improve the performance" of the aforementioned vehicles in terms of emissions without any impact on performance and consumption.
