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US sues Fiat Chrysler for emissions cheating

Posted on 25 May, 2017

The US Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler, accusing the car maker of illegally using software to bypass emissions testing regulations in over 104,000 diesel vehicles, namely Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge RAM trucks, sold since 2014. Fiat Chrysler denies any wrongdoing and said on Tuesday it was disappointed that the US had filed the suit. According to Reuters, a spokesperson said the car maker would defend all allegations “it engaged in any deliberate scheme to install defeat devices to cheat U.S. emissions tests." The lawsuit alleges Fiat Chrysler installed ‘defeat devices’ between 2014 and 2016, which led to illegal levels of nitrogen oxide, and asks the district court to order a fix on all affected vehicles and a sales ban. The civil case could result in a fine of up to $64,200 for each vehicle sold after November 2015, when news of the emissions scandal first broke worldwide, and $52,300 for those sold prior to this date – a total of over $6.5 billion, according to Reuters. It's not the first time Fiat Chrysler has found itself int he middle of an emissions scandal. In January, the EPA and the state of California filed a separate lawsuit against the car maker alleging the use of defeat devices. German transport minister Alexander Dobrindt also called for the affected vehicles to be pulled from European markets. Both vehicles at the centre of the lawsuit are available for sale in New Zealand through certain dealers. New Zealand has no emissions standard testing or requirements for diesel vehicles, and the government currently has no plans to introduce any in the future.