Germany has written a letter to the European Commission accusing Fiat Chrysler Automobiles of using an illegal device to switch off exhaust treatment systems in diesel engines, German magazine Wirtschaftswoche reported today.
The German Transport Ministry sent a letter to the commission, which is the EU's executive arm, in late August in which it said tests had found evidence that Fiat Chrysler had illegally used a device to switch off exhaust treatment systems, Wirtschafts Woche said.
In addition, the tests found a "special nitrogen oxide catalyst which is being switched off after a few cleaning cycles," the magazine said. The affected vehicles are the Fiat 500X and Jeep Renegade small SUVs, both platform siblings, along with the Fiat Doblo car-derived van. The engine in question is Fiat's latest 2.0-liter diesel.
In May, German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt criticized Fiat Chrysler for not showing up for a meeting to discuss emissions irregularities of its diesel vehicles. Italian Transport Minister Graziano Delrio said in June that Fiat diesel engines had been tested and found to comply with emissions regulations.
WirtschaftsWoche said cited the letter as saying "Germany does not share the Italian car type approval authority's opinion that the device to switch off exhaust treatment systems is used to protect the engine."
Germany's car watchdog KBA began testing vehicles of several automakers after the diesel-emissions scandal that engulfed Volkswagen Group.
The probe found that some Fiat vehicles showed irregular levels of diesel exhaust pollution, the Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported. It said the emissions treatment system was throttled back after 22 minutes. The normal duration of regulatory tests for vehicle emissions is about 20 minutes.
The German Transport Ministry and the Italian Transport Ministry were not immediately available for comment. A Fiat spokesman in Germany declined to comment.
Automotive News Europe
Michael Nienaber
REPORT HERE
Automotive News Europe
Michael Nienaber
REPORT HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a message, I will verify them swiftly, Sorry to have to do this now as some twat keeps spamming my message system, unfortunately they are ignorant and spoil it for everyone else,
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.