No U.S. Approval Yet for FCA Diesel Fixes

U.S. regulators are still weeks or months away from approving Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s proposed updates to diesel engines that had been fitted with undisclosed emission control software, according to the Dept. of Justice.

Regulators claim the software relaxes emission controls after pollution tests, allowing the vehicles to emit as much as 20 times the allowable level of nitrogen oxides. FCA denies any effort to deliberately cheat on the tests.

The Justice Dept. filed a civil lawsuit last month that charges FCA with cheating. A department lawyer told a federal court in San Francisco on Wednesday “there is uncertainty” about when the fixes will be approved, adding that a final decisio would be months away.

At issue are about 104,000 of FCA’s 2014-2016 model Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs and Ram 1500 fullsize pickup trucks equipped with 3.0-liter V-6 diesels.

But delay in approving the proposed software update for those older models also is hampering FCA’s efforts to certify its 2017 and 2018 diesel models for sale, because those engines would use the same software.