California officials and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. announced Thursday an approximately $800 million settlement of claims that the automaker used illegal software to cheat on the testing of pollution from diesel-powered vehicles.
The settlement must be approved by U.S. District Judge Edward Chen of San Francisco, who is presiding over a series of lawsuits filed against the car maker since 2017 by the U.S. Department of Justice, car owners and the state of California.
The agreement concerns 2014-2016 diesel Jeep Grand Cherokees and Dodge Ram 1500s.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Fiat Chrysler is accused of installing the so-called defeat devices in 100,000 vehicles nationwide, including 13,325 vehicles in California.
The devices allegedly would turn on controls on smog-producing nitrous oxide emissions when cars were tested but would turn off the controls when the vehicles were on the road.
Fiat Chrysler said the settlement includes about $400 million in federal and state penalties plus an average of about $2,800 plus a free software update for car buyers.
The company, based in the Netherlands with a U.S. subsidiary in Michigan, does not admit to any wrongdoing in the settlement.
The investigation grew out of a probe of Volkswagen AG, which ended up paying more than $20 billion to settle criminal and civil cases with similar allegations.
Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board, or CARB, said:
Fiat Chrysler said it has implemented “rigorous new validation procedures and updated our training program” but said the settlement doesn’t change its position that it did not engage in a deliberate scheme to cheat emissions tests.
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