Fiat Chrysler referred to French court over Dieselgate emissions deception

Fiat Chrysler, now part of the Stellantis group, has been referred to a French criminal court for aggravated deception in connection with the “Dieselgate” emissions scandal. The investigation focuses on whether the manufacturer deceived buyers of models such as the Fiat 500 Euro 6 between September 2014 and March 2017.

According to the investigative judge, the vehicles were “specially calibrated based on technical parameters to systematically improve the performance of the pollutant control system” during official homologation procedures. While this allowed the vehicles to meet regulatory ceilings during testing, the calibration strategy resulted in “significantly degraded functioning of the pollution control components” during real-world driving. This led to frequent and substantial exceedances of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission limits.

The judge concluded that the group deceived purchasers regarding compliance with European regulations by introducing a prohibited “invalidation device” to pass tests. The deception is considered aggravated due to the resulting increase in atmospheric pollutants that are hazardous to human and animal health.