Because Cummins’ all-American dieselgate also concerns Stellantis
Cummins did not admit wrongdoing, but agreed to pay the largest fine ever imposed in the United States for violating the Clean Air Act
In the end Cummins, the American manufacturer of diesel engines, agreed to pay 2 billion dollars (we will see the details later, roughly the mega check will be 1.67 billion dollars for the fine, to which another 325 million are added as of compensation for environmental damage) to close the lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice and California which had accused him of having installed approximately one million illegal devices and software for the manipulation of emissions.
DIESELGATE, THE PENALTY NEVER ENDS
In short, the great book of dieselgate scandals seems to have no end, with chapters that have affected European industries (where the bubble exploded, with Volkswagen ), as well as Japanese ones (the recent Hino case created quite a few embarrassments for Toyota) and US producers, including Cummins, in fact, which according to the Californian accusation would have "tampered" 960 thousand engines supplied to the Ram brand for the 2500 and 3500 pick-ups produced in the last ten years, from 2013 to 2023.
WHAT STELLANTIS HAS TO DO WITH CUMMINS DIESELGATE
Born with the "Heavy Duty" pick-ups produced under the Dodge brand, which soon became popular throughout the USA for use as tow trucks, in 2009 the Ram brand became an independent brand focused on the production of flatbed vehicles, which in America is known, they are the most popular.
Today it is one of the brands that make up the varied Stellantis galaxy. Under the hood of the 2500 and 3500 models, powerful Cummins diesel engines rumble which, according to the American authorities, would have presented undeclared mechanisms similar to those that triggered the Dieselgate scandal, as they were aimed at altering NOx emissions during tests, not corresponding to those (superior) in daily use.
THE CUMMINS POSITION
Cummins for his part, contrary to what recently happened in Japan with Hino who, following investigations by the Japanese authorities, publicly apologized without waiting for a ruling, has rejected all accusations, maintaining that he has not committed any offences.
However, also to avoid the publicity consequences resulting from the continuation of the case which could damage its relationship with commercial partners, it wanted to reach an agreement with the judicial authorities of the State of California.
A RECORD FINE
It certainly cannot be said that the plea agreement induced the American authorities to lighten the fine. This is in fact the largest fine ever imposed for a violation of theClean Air Act : the 1.675 billion dollar fine (more than 1.5 billion euros) includes 1.48 billion that will go to the federal government, 164 million in favor of California Air Resources Board and $33 million for the California Attorney General's Office.
Furthermore, as already anticipated, the company will have to pay out another 325 million dollars in compensation, also engaging in various environmental works. California Attorney General Rob Bonta was satisfied and commented to US newspapers: "Let this agreement be a lesson: we will not allow greedy multinationals to cheat and overwhelm the health and well-being of consumers and our environment."
Around the same time, likely in an effort to blunt the negative publicity surrounding the plea deal, Cummins announced a $580 million project to stimulate economic and job growth in the Nash County, North Carolina community by installing new construction equipment. future of manufacturing and upgrading the assembly line for next-generation environmentally friendly products.
And Stellantis? There are currently no comments. The automotive multinational will however be affected by the ruling as it will have to recall an unspecified number of Ram brand pick-ups distributed in the last ten years to uninstall any devices and allow the ritual tests. US Attorney General Merrick Garland said “preliminary estimates suggest that defeat devices on some Cummins engines produced thousands of tons of excess nitrogen oxide emissions.”
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/perche-il-dieselgate-tutto-americano-di-cummins-riguarda-anche-stellantis/ on Mon, 15 Jan 2024 14:37:32 +0000.