U.S. Prepares to Sue FCA on Diesel Emissions

The U.S. Dept. of Justice could file a civil lawsuit as early as this week against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV for using illegal software to evade emission rules for its 3.0-liter diesels, according to media reports.

The Environmental Protection Agency claimed in January that FCA used the so-called defeat device to skirt emission limits for about 104,000 of its 2014-2016 model Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs and Dodge Ram 1500 pickup trucks.

The agency claims that FCA failed to disclose the software as it is required to do and has since failed to adequately explain what the software does.

EPA and the California Air Resources Board have been in discussions with FCA about the issue since then. Reuters says a federal judge in California intends to hold a hearing on May 24 concerning lawsuits against FCA by owners of affected vehicles. Sources tell the news service that the Justice Dept. will file its lawsuit if the dispute isn’t settled by then.

The Justice Dept. also began a criminal investigation late last year into FCA’s diesel emission testing procedures. FCA insists its software wasn’t designed to cheat pollution rules as was the coding Volkswagen AG used to thwart the regulations. The company is seeking approval to use a software update to fix the vehicles EPA cited in January.