General Motors must pay almost $146 million (135 million euros) in fines to the US government. This is due to the company’s 5.9 million older vehicles not meeting emissions and fuel economy standards.
The trigger for the comparison was an investigation commissioned by the US government. This was made known by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a civilian US federal agency for road and vehicle safety. In a statement Wednesday, it said certain GM vehicles from the 2012 to 2018 model years would not comply with U.S. fuel economy requirements.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an independent government agency for US environmental protection, had already determined in its tests that GM pickup trucks and SUVs would emit on average at least 10 percent more carbon dioxide than in the original tests stated by GM. “Our investigation has led to accountability,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
GM sees no wrongdoing
GM, meanwhile, denies the allegations. “GM complied with all applicable laws and regulations at all times when certifying and testing the affected vehicles,” said the US automaker. Instead, the problem is the change in testing procedures that the EPA introduced in 2016, said GM spokesman Bill Grotz.
According to the EPA, about 4.6 million full-size pickups and SUVs and about 1.3 million midsize SUVs are affected. Affected models include the Chevy Tahoe, Cadillac Escalade and Chevy Silverado. Around 40 variants of GM vehicles are affected.
Costs amount to 490 million US dollars
The US Environmental Protection Agency also announced that General Motors had also agreed to give up around 50 million tonnes of emissions rights. The Environmental Protection Agency did not call for a recall of the affected cars.
In a quarterly report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, GM said the total cost of resolving the matter is expected to total $490 million.
Exhaust emissions are putting a strain on the industry
In similar pollution cases in the past, automakers have been fined under the Clean Air Act for such violations. Normally the US Department of Justice also gets involved.
Incorrect emissions values are a recurring issue in the automotive industry. In 2014, the car manufacturers closed Hyundai and Kia reached a settlement with the Justice Department to pay a $100 million civil penalty to end a two-year investigation into inflated gas mileage claims on the window stickers of 1.2 million vehicles. Korean automakers denied allegations that they had violated the law.
In 2015 there was Volkswagen admitted to intentionally manipulating nearly half a million cars to evade US smog tests.
The German carmaker confirmed at the time that it had intentionally installed software to circumvent emissions tests. This allowed the cars to produce more power on the road while emitting 40 times the legal pollution limit.
The scandal cost Volkswagen more than $30 billion in fines and settlements and resulted in two executives being fired USA had to go to prison.