Settlement talks between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and lawyers representing US owners of the company’s diesel vehicles who are suing it over excess emissions will take place on October 12, as revealed by a court-appointed settlement adviser yesterday.
The talks will be held not too long after similar settlement talks in the US between Volkswagen and (the similarly angry) owners of its diesel cars there. So, despite Fiat Chrysler’s “best efforts” to avoid a similar fate to Volkswagen, it appears that it probably won’t manage to do so.
Reuters provides more information: “In May, the US Justice Department sued Fiat Chrysler, accusing the company of illegally using software that led to excess emissions in nearly 104,000 US diesel vehicles sold since 2014. It also faces numerous lawsuits from owners of those vehicles. German auto supplier Robert Bosch GmbH, which develops diesel vehicle systems, has also been sued by US vehicle owners and will be part of the settlement talks next month, settlement master Ken Feinberg said in court.”
While there are of course differences between the two situations, I have to wonder how much of a proxy we can take the Volkswagen diesel emissions testing cheating scandal as, with regard to Fiat Chrysler’s fate in the US legal system. Presumably there are quite a few owners of its diesel vehicles in the US who wouldn’t mind getting some justice, and the opportunity (and cash) to buy a car that doesn’t pollute far more than it is legally supposed to.
For more background on the subject, see: US EPA Has Suspected Fiat Chrysler Of Using Defeat Devices Since Back In 2015, Newly Disclosed Emails Show.
Also see our vast archives on the sprawling diesel emissions scandal.
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