Fiat Chrysler to Pay Out $300 Million in Diesel Emissions Fraud Case
The Stellantis unit was first accused of cheating regulations in 2017.
Even though Dieselgate occupied headlines for what felt like years on end, Volkswagen was not the only company to be accused of cheating US diesel emissions regulations. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, now a part of global conglomerate Stellantis, also ended up in federal hot water over similar accusations. Now another cheaper in FCA's diesel woes has come to an end.
The US Department of Justice this week announced that FCA US has been sentenced in federal court to pay about $300 million in criminal penalties, in addition to serving three years of organizational probation. This stems from "the company's conspiracy to defraud US regulators and customers by making false and misleading representations about the design, calibration and function of the emissions control system" of more than 100,000 Jeep and Ram diesel vehicles, according to the DOJ's press release.
"Today's sentence is an appropriate punishment for a company that schemed to defraud regulators and consumers," said US Attorney Dawn N. Ison in a statement. "All corporations should be transparent and honest in dealing with the federal government and the public."
Representatives from Stellantis pointed to the company's statement from June, when the settlement was first announced. "Consumer claims related to the subject vehicles have already been resolved, and no additional recalls are required," the statement reads. "As described in Stellantis NV's 2021 financial disclosures, approximately $301 million was previously accrued related to this matter, which is sufficient to cover the forfeiture and penalty imposed by the plea agreement."
In addition to the $300 million in penalties it must pay, FCA US agreed to cooperate with the DOJ on any subsequent related investigations. Furthermore, the automaker also agreed to flesh out a compliance and ethics program meant to prevent something like this from happening again, and it must provide reports to the DOJ on its progress. Additionally, three FCA employees were indicted for conspiracy to defraud the US and violate the Clean Air Act, in addition to six counts of violating the Clean Air Act itself. Those employees are awaiting trial.
The EPA first accused FCA US of malfeasance in 2017, when it began investigating some 100,000 examples of the 2014-16 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 equipped with FCA's 3.0-liter EcoDiesel engine. Later that year, the company agreed to modify those vehicles, even though it claimed it did nothing wrong. In 2019, FCA US agreed to pay approximately $800 million to settle civil and class-action suits related to the alleged wrongdoing.