As per a statement released on Monday by the government, French investigators have indicated that automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) could be impeached for abnormal release of pollutants like nitrogen oxide (NOx) from some of its vehicles having diesel engines. The emissions from the Fiat Chrysler models were higher compared to the governing limits as per the investigation reports. The cheating scandal of Volkswagen emissions tests lead to the investigation in Fiat models.
Investigations are being carried out on other brands to check for non-adherence to regulatory limits. The finance and industry ministry has confirmed that a case has been referred to prosecutors regarding Fiat Chrysler. Two other manufacturing companies, Germany’s Volkswagen and France’s Renault have already been referred to French prosecutors with FCA being the third. The referral is based on the test program result conducted on several automakers last year.
Aftermath Of The Findings
The lab testing on FCA’s Jeep Cherokee model showed it emitted eight times the NOx limit as per the results published in last July. The road testing of another model Fiat 500x showed it emitted 17 times the regulatory limit. Fiat Chrysler hasn’t made any official statement regarding the findings. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last month blamed the American-Italian car manufacturer of using concealed software to let excessive diesel emission to go unnoticed and charged a maximum fine amount of $4.6 billion on the company.
FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne rejected the allegations and continued to state that the company wasn’t involved in creating software to deceive emission rules. The strain between Rome and Berlin has increased since Germany alleged FCA’s Fiat 500X, Fiat Doblo and Jeep Renegade were installed with cheating software.
