American regulators accuse Fiat Chrysler of emissions cheating

FOR each of the past three years, Fiat Chrysler Automobile's (FCA) 3 litre V6 turbodiesel has made it to a list of the industry's top ten engines compiled by Ward's, a distinguished American car-industry trade publication. Its place on the shortlist for 2017 must now be in doubt. On January 12th America's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accused FCA (whose chairman, John Elkann, sits on the board of The Economist's parent company) of using illegal software in conjunction with the engines. This, it says, allowed 104,000 vehicles'mostly Dodge pickups and some Jeeps, fitted with the 3 litre V6 turbodiesel'to exceed legal limits of toxic emissions.The news sent the firm's shares plummeting by 17%, before recovering somewhat. Nervous investors feared a repeat of the huge penalty imposed on Germany's Volkswagen (VW) for cheating American emissions laws. A day earlier VW had agreed to pay a criminal fine of $4.3bn for selling around 500,000 cars fitted with so-called 'defeat devices' that are designed to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx) under test conditions. With the latest sum included, its final bill...Continue reading
Click here to read full news..