Emissions Cheating Scandal Grows: General Motors, Fiat Chrysler Sued

DETROIT, MI — General Motors is denying claims in a federal class action lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court in Detroit that accuses the world’s third-largest automaker of emissions test cheating. Filed by the Hagens Berman law firm of Seattle, the suit claims GM used defeat devices in two models of its heavy-duty diesel trucks.

Robert Bosch, the German multinational engineering and electronics company that made GM’s electronic diesel controls, is also named in the lawsuit. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Detroit Patch, click here to find your local Michigan Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The class action lawsuit comes a day after the Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, accusing it of installing illegal software in some of its Dodge Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee models.

According to the emissions cheating lawsuit against General Motors, the Duramax Diesel Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra emitted harmful nitrogen oxide at two to five times the amount allowed by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards.

In a two-sentence statement, GM said: “These claims are baseless and we will vigorously defend ourselves. The Duramax Diesel Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra comply with all U.S. EPA and CARB emissions regulations."

Automakers worldwide are under pressure to prove their diesel models comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards on the open road, and not just during testing.

Volkswagen pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this year to installing the defeat device software. Last month, a U.S. District Court judge fined Volkswagen $2.8 billion in its emissions-cheating scandal. The German automaker also agreed to pay $17 billion in civil settlements.

On Wednesday, the federal government filed a civil lawsuit in federal court in Detroit accusing Fiat Chrysler of emissions cheating with illegal software to bypass emissions controls on 104,000 diesel vehicles that have been sold since 2014. FCA’s unit VM MotoriSpA, which designed the engines on Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand vehicles sold from 2014-2016, is also named in the lawsuit.

The EPA said in a statement that Fiat Chrysler failed to disclose at least eight suspect software applications in applications for certificates of conformity.

“The undisclosed software features lessen the effectiveness of the vehicles’ emissions control systems during certain normal driving situations,” the EPA said. “This results in cars that meet emission standards in the laboratory and during standard EPA testing, but during certain normal on-road driving emit oxides of nitrogen (NOx) that are much higher than the EPA-compliant level.”

Fiat Chrysler said in a statement that it is “reviewing the complaint” but is “disappointed” that the Justice Department’s Natural Resources Division filed the lawsuit. “The company intends to defend itself vigorously, particularly against any claims that the company engaged in any deliberate scheme to install defeat devices to cheat U.S. emissions tests,” the automaker said.

The lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler may be moved to a federal court in California, where a series of lawsuits have been filed against the automaker, Reuters reported.

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