BERLIN: German regulators suspect that Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, like Volkswagen AG, used illegal software to cheat on emissions tests, a newspaper report said yesterday.
The German Federal Motor Vehicle Office (KBA) has sent a report voicing the suspicion to the European Commission and to Italian authorities, the Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported.
The report came after Germany on Thursday last week blasted Fiat for its “uncooperative attitude” for refusing to meet its officials to address questions on whether their vehicles complied with emissions regulations.
German authorities launched a sweeping emissions probe after Volkswagen admitted in September last year to rigging its engines with so-called defeat devices to cheat pollution tests. Not only Volkswagen vehicles, but other major car brands, including Fiat, showed up irregularities.
Bild am Sonntag reported that testing by the KBA of a Fiat model had shown that the emission control system shut down after 22 minutes — two minutes after the end of a standard test.
This caused the dangerous pollutant nitrogen oxide to be released into the atmosphere “at more than 10 times the permitted level,” according to the newspaper, citing the report.
The KBA had concluded that there was “sufficient evidence of an impermissible defeat device,” the newspaper said, adding that the automaker had declined to comment on the claims.
Fiat officials had been due to hold a meeting with German authorities on Wednesday last week, but canceled the talks abruptly through a lawyer’s letter, the German Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure said.
The automaker had declined to meet as it deemed Italian officials to be the only authority responsible on the question of whether their vehicles complied with existing emissions regulations, the ministry said.
“This uncooperative attitude of Fiat is completely incomprehensible,” German Minister of Transport Alexander Dobrindt said.
