Fiat Chrysler Settles US Price-Fixing Suit

The US Justice Department (DOJ) on Thursday announced a $305 million civil settlement between Fiat Chrysler and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a lawsuit over illegal software found on certain diesel Dodge Ram models and diesel Jeep Grand Cherokee models.

On top of all this, Fiat Chrysler is expected to upgrade the software on all of the offending vehicles and pay into a mitigation fund designed to ameliorate damage done by excess nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. The two programs together will cost the company an additional $185 million.

The DOJ said Fiat Chrysler will also have to pay a $6 million civil penalty to US Customs and Border Protection to “resolve allegations of illegally importing 1,700 noncompliant vehicles.”

The settlement comes two years after the EPA accused Fiat Chrysler of installing undisclosed and illegal software on 104,000 vehicles, including 3.0L diesel Dodge Ram 1500 trucks and diesel Jeep Grand Cherokees between model years 2014 and 2016. The EPA claimed the software would sense when the vehicle was being tested under laboratory conditions and implement the full emissions control system so that the car could pass the EPA’s emissions tests. But when the vehicle was being driven under real-world conditions, the software would reduce the effectiveness of the emissions control system so the car would perform better.

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