Germany has found evidence enough to accuse FCA of manipulating its diesel emissions tests and threatens to ban all of the group from selling any more cars there.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles might be about to find it hard to sell its cars in Germany going forward if the nation’s suspicions about the group’s diesel emissions claims are not allayed.
According to German newspaper Bild Am Sonntag, the country’s Federal Motor Transport Authority has claimed to have found evidence that some vehicles from FCA employ similar defeat devices that alter the car’s emissions readings when being tested.
This method is similar to that utilised by Volkswagen that led to the dieselgate scandal in September 2015 and caused a tremendous downturn in the perceived viability in diesel as a cleaner means for internal combustion as well as a stain on the automobile industry’s trust from the public.
The newspaper details that the defeat device shuts down certain vehicle functions to improve emissions after sensing the car is being placed under testing conditions for 22 minutes, which is 2 minutes longer than the standard EU diesel emissions test that typically lasts 20 minutes.
FCA has denied the allegations that their emissions figures, of any kind, are being manipulated to comply with stricter standards. In a statement, the company said: "We believe all our vehicles respect EU emissions standards and we believe Italian regulators are the competent authority to evaluate this.”
A meeting was meant to be set between the German transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, and a high-ranking representative from FCA which the automotive group allegedly declined.
