Fiat Chrysler Pays $800 Million to Settle Emissions Scandal

Well, at least this one didn’t involve monkeys....

Fiat Chrysler agreed to pay $800 million to settle an emissions testing scam involving nearly 104,000 Jeep sport utility vehicles and Ram pickup trucks. The affair was eerily similar to another recent case of corporate malfeasance.

Last year, we covered a bizarre scandal that involved diesel fumes, doctored test results, and monkeys -- Volkswagen, Daimler, and BMW sponsored a study that exposed Cynomolgus Macaque monkeys to varying degrees of tailpipe emissions. Half the simian test subjects sucked down fumes from a diesel Volkswagen Beetle, while the other, less-fortunate half breathed the exhaust from an older Ford diesel pickup.

Just one problem (besides the obvious animal cruelty) – the Beetles were doctored to emit less toxic fumes than what you’d see on the road. Fiat Chrysler pulled a similar trick when 2014, 2015 and 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee and light-duty Ram 1500 pickup trucks with 3-liter diesel engines were tampered with software that obscured violations of the Clean Air Act.

Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne dismissed comparisons with the monkey scandal, and some analysts claim the Italian company’s sin is of nondisclosure, not intentional deception, but the fact remains that they broke the law.

"It's like bringing a calculator to your math test — you're allowed to bring it, and it's one thing to have it on your desk, but it's another thing to have it in your lap," said Kelley Blue Book analyst Rebecca Lindland.

But the EPA wasn’t having it. After the settlement, acting administrator Andrew Wheeler claimed that “Today’s settlement with Fiat Chrysler sends a clear and strong signal to manufacturers and consumers.” Carmakers “should know that the cost of enforcement will be much higher than any competitive edge they may gain,” he said.

Read more about this here: https://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-fiat-chrysler-emissions-20190110-story.html