Ram Truck Sales Roll on as Key Engine Supplier Probes Emissions
Ram Truck Sales Roll on as Key Engine Supplier Probes Emissions
(Bloomberg) -- Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV will continue to sell big versions of its Ram pickups after Cummins Inc. started a review of how it certifies the emissions of engines it supplies to the carmaker.
Cummins will check certification and compliance processes for engines in the 2019 Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks after conversations with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board, the company said Tuesday.
“We are reviewing our certification process and it’s too early to tell what, if any actions, would or might be needed,” Jon Mills, a Cummins spokesman, said in an email.
Fiat Chrysler welcomed the review and said it would cooperate as necessary, adding the discussions are taking place between Cummins and other stakeholders.
The carmaker in January agreed to pay about $800 million in fines and costs to settle lawsuits brought by states, car owners and the U.S. Justice Department, which said earlier versions of the company’s diesel-powered pickups and SUVs violated clean-air rules. Last week, the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into Ford Motor Co.’s emissions certification process, intensifying an issue the automaker disclosed two months ago.
Ford is at least the third major automaker to face a U.S. federal investigation over emissions in the span of a few years. Volkswagen AG paid a $4.3 billion penalty in 2017 after installing so-called defeat devices in its diesel engines to bypass emissions tests.
Fiat Chrysler debuted revamped versions of its heavy-duty Ram pickups at the Detroit auto show in January and started sales in the second quarter.
“We do not comment on ongoing investigations,” the EPA said, without specifying if the agency had started a formal probe of Cummins.
--With assistance from Ryan Beene.
To contact the reporter on this story: Gabrielle Coppola in New York at gcoppola@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Trudell at ctrudell1@bloomberg.net, Elisabeth Behrmann
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.