The U.S. division of automaker Stellantis has agreed to plead guilty in Detroit federal court to conspiracy and pay a $300 million fine ...
The U.S. division of automaker Stellantis has agreed to plead guilty in Detroit federal court to conspiracy and pay a $300 million fine to resolve an investigation into the company’s attempts to circumvent diesel emissions standards, the Department of Justice announced on Friday.
The company, born from the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot, also agreed to cooperate with federal authorities as part of his plea deal, according to a statement released by prosecutors.
The investigation focused on an allegation that Fiat Chrysler attempted to circumvent emission standards for some of its pickup trucks and Jeeps. Prosecutors said the US division, also known as FCA US, had misled customers and regulators for years.
“We expect all companies to deal with regulators and the public openly and honestly,” Dawn N. Ison, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, one of the largest corporations in our district failed to meet this standard, resulting in today’s guilty plea.”
The company, in a statement on Friday, confirmed that it had agreed to resolve the criminal investigation with a guilty plea and a fine. Court documents show that the company had agreed early last month to plead guilty but that the agreement was not signed by federal prosecutors and filed with court until Friday.
Prosecutors said the investigation found the company built software in some of its older vehicles that helped them meet emissions standards during federal testing, but not when customers drove them. Authorities said the deception allowed Fiat Chrysler to market the vehicles as environmentally friendly and having “best-in-class fuel efficiency.”
In a related case, prosecutors charged three company employees last year on similar charges that they conspired to violate the Clean Air Act by misleading regulators and customers about diesel emission standards.
The company paid hundreds of millions of dollars in 2019 to settle disputes arising from the plan. At the time, it was estimated that the settlement and related vehicle recalls would cost Fiat Chrysler approximately $800 million.
By pleading guilty, the company also agreed to implement a compliance and ethics program to detect future attempts of similar deceptive conduct. The company’s guilty plea is subject to court approval and sentencing is scheduled for July 18.
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