Fiat Chrysler Faces Investigation Over ‘EcoDiesel’ Vehicles | Nordgren Law: Automotive Litigation and Lemon Law

Many of you know about the scandal involving Volkswagen’s installation of defeat devises in its “Clean Diesel” vehicles. Basically, these devises tricked regulators into believing Volkswagen vehicles were fully compliant with federal emissions standards when, in fact, they were emitting up to 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen-oxide into the air.

Well, it appears another car manufacturer is getting sucked into Dieselgate.

On January 12, 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Notice of Violation to FCA US, LLC, after determining the car manufacturer failed to disclose eight different Auxiliary Emission Control Devices in its 2014-2016 Jeep Grand Cherokees and Dodge Ram 1500 trucks with 3.0 liter diesel engines. According to the EPA, “Failing to disclose software that affects emissions in a vehicle’s engine is a serious violation of the law, which can result in harmful pollution in the air we breathe.”

Reuters is now reporting that FCA has received subpoenas from multiple federal and state agencies since EPA issued the Notice of Violation, including the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and several states’ attorneys general. What’s more, FCA is now under scrutiny from European regulators, including France’s Consumer Protection Agency.

As stated by Mary D. Nichols, Chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, “Once again, a major automaker made business decision to skirt the rules and got caught.”