Fiat Chrysler, Cummins spar over costs of diesel emission recall

[kscarbel2]

Reuters  /  October 10, 2016

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and engine manufacturer Cummins are fighting over the $200 million estimated cost for a recall of 130,000 Ram pickup trucks equipped with Cummins diesel engines that could exceed U.S. pollution limits.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) have demanded a recall of 2013 through 2015 model year Ram 2500 pickup trucks with 6.7L Cummins diesel engines because moisture can lead to the deactivation of the selective catalyst reduction system, causing excess nitrogen oxide emissions, Cummins said in court documents that have not been previously reported.

A lawyer for Fiat Chrysler, John Berg, said at a Sept. 23 court hearing in Detroit the recall could cost $200 million, according to a transcript. The auto maker is willing to cooperate in the recall, Berg said. "What we are not willing to do is bear the cost of it," he said.

Fiat Chrysler has sued Cummins to recover the $60 million it has spent to date repairing 42,000 trucks at its own expense, he said.

The legal dispute between Fiat Chrysler and Cummins began in August when Fiat Chrysler sued the engine maker in U.S. District Court in Detroit for breach of contract, saying the Indiana engine company failed to provide working parts and would not indemnify it.

Cummins countersued, saying Fiat Chrysler would not cooperate in the recall "for one reason – money" and said the automaker was "holding both Cummins and its own customers hostage."

When the emissions system fails, the warning light goes on and if the vehicle isn't fixed soon the vehicles go into "limp mode" that allow them to only be driven very slowly, Berg said.

Cummins spokesman Jon Mills said Monday the two companies have a dispute regarding the financial responsibility for the recall, but "are working collaboratively to resolve an issue with a third party after treatment system purchased by (Fiat Chrysler) as quickly as possible on behalf of our customers."

Fiat Chrysler spokesman Mike Palese said Monday the automaker "remains committed to working with Cummins to ensure that any necessary repairs are carried out effectively and efficiently."

Cummins wants the recall to start next month in California and eight other states, and plans to complete the action early next year, according to court documents.

Cummins said in a court filing the recall will reduce the fuel economy of vehicles by a "negligible" amount - from 14.6 miles per gallon to 14.4 miles per gallon.

[Red Horse]

Hmnn-will reduce fuel economy?  Why does correcting a defective component lead to reduced economy?

[RoadwayR]

Oh boy, this is how the Navistar Ford divorce started!

[Underdog]

Hmnn-will reduce fuel economy?  Why does correcting a defective component lead to reduced economy?

How about REMOVING all the emission components and improve fuel economy?!? Use less fossil fuels= good for the environment!

[Underdog]

How about REMOVING all the emission components and improve fuel economy?!? Use less fossil fuels= good for the environment!

And WHY does a 1 ton pickup get only 14.5 mpg?!? My 50 year old Mack gets 10 mpg bobtailing around, which is what most of the Dodge Cummins are used for...

[HeavyGunner]

10 hours ago, Underdog said:

And WHY does a 1 ton pickup get only 14.5 mpg?!? My 50 year old Mack gets 10 mpg bobtailing around, which is what most of the Dodge Cummins are used for...

I have rode with a guy on many road trips in his '07 dodge with a Cummings in it.  Remove all the the DPF and EGR and put an edge attitude tuner in it and viola over 20mpg consistently instead of 14. Like you said the better fuel economy never seems to make it into the good for the earth argument. 

[Underdog]

9 hours ago, HeavyGunner said:

I have rode with a guy on many road trips in his '07 dodge with a Cummings in it.  Remove all the the DPF and EGR and put an edge attitude tuner in it and viola over 20mpg consistently instead of 14. Like you said the better fuel economy never seems to make it into the good for the earth argument. 

My neighbor runs doubles for FedEx has a 2010 peterbilt with Cummins. Did an EGR delete and retuned 5.5 mpg before, 7.5 mpg after, plus 150 hp, and it will pass NJ smog test. Why can't we buy trucks like this out of the box?!?

[BillyT]

UD, I've always thought this, The 1st gen 5.9 dodge Cummins in a one ton p.u or c/c got 25 mpg mt.Properly maintained the thing is good for 500k.It had a minimum of "add on" emissions b.s!(The truck exemption) I am fairly unique as I do 100 percent of our families vehicle maintenance.Most of the folks on this website do all or most of their big truck maintenance,but I'm fairly sure they are at the point where they don't have the training(or equipment) to do much beyond preventive maintenance on their newest cars or pickups! My wife's boring Toyota corrola is one of the last cars with a minimum of electronic emissions and 0 infotainment b.s! I am convinced and have been convinced for years that this a ploy by the automakers to get your ass into the dealer for repairs, or to frighten you enough(from your last screwing at the dealer) to participate in one of the corporate worlds greatest profit centers...THE EXTENDED WARRANTY!! They'll sell you an extended warranty on a m.f. ball point pen!😁 If they passed a law that the automakers and truckmakers had to meet their outrageous fuel economy and emissions standards without one emissions device except the pcv valve (necessary) or they would have to close their doors.I promise you the engineers would do it!! Ain't gonna happen,no chance! The profits are too high with the present business model! They've built engines and trannys that will last so long with proper maintenance with the best lubricants,that you're so tired of looking at the same car you lease a new one (another profit center)! Ok folks today's rant is over,gotta shampoo a carpet (guess whose idea that was?

[Underdog]

I just hope you got the extended warranty on the carpet shampoo machine LOL

[BillyT]

Naw my wife is retired from Sears, she got the thing on closeout cheap! I'm sure it's made in China,but they've hidden the hecho in China marking! The other thing is all the emissions and other electronic crap drives the price of a vehicle up! It especially pIsses me off that they are legislating the " lane departure" alarms and  front collision mitigation devices on the newer cars! If you can't stay in your lane you're either distracted,impaired, or incompetent! At some point what little "defensive driving" is left will be replaced by devices that can and do screw up! With the possible exception of defective brake lights (rare) on the vehicle in front of you proper following distance will enable you to stop "in time" to prevent an accident! The new drivers will become accustomed to the vehicle doing their driving for them they won't even bother to pay attention to what is going on around them. You can thank the " insurance lobby" for most of this but it works out well for everyone but the car buyer and the responsible driver!😣

[kscarbel2]

Dodge Truck Owners Accuse Chrysler of VW-Like Cheating

Bloomberg/Reuters  /  November 14, 2016

Allegations of cheating pollution standards have reached U.S. automakers as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was sued by consumers who said engines in some Ram pickup trucks were rigged to hide that emissions were as much as 14 times higher than permitted by law.

FCA is the first U.S. carmaker to be sued by consumers. Similar claims were made against German carmakers. Volkswagen AG admitted that it installed devices designed to fool emission testing in 11 million cars worldwide in a scandal that may cost it 18.2 billion euros ($19.5 billion). Claims of rigging vehicles have also been made against Mercedes, which has denied the allegations.

Fiat Chrysler and its diesel technology partner Cummins Inc. hid from consumers that pollutants that were supposed to have been broken down inside the diesel engines instead had a tendency to escape, almost doubling the emissions and reducing the vehicle’s fuel efficiency, according to the lawsuit. The companies are accused of fraud, false advertising and racketeering in the complaint, filed today in U.S. District Court in Detroit on behalf of the owners of almost 500,000 Ram 2500/3500 model trucks.

Ram became its own brand under the FCA umbrella in 2009. Before that, Ram trucks were sold under the Dodge brand. 

The lawsuit against FCA -- created in 2014 through the merger of Chrysler and Fiat -- further calls into question the credibility of clean-diesel technology. Excessive emissions from the vehicles exposed the general public to noxious levels of smog, according to the consumer complaint.

The claims involving Ram pickups from 2007 and 2012 predate the first known sales of emissions-cheating vehicles by Volkswagen by two years.

FCA said it is reviewing the complaint. 

"Based on the information available to it, FCA US does not believe that the claims brought against it are meritorious," FCA said in a statement to Reuters. "FCA US will contest the lawsuit vigorously."

Cummins refused to comment.

“The sheer level of fraud and concealment between Chrysler and Cummins is unconscionable, and we believe we have uncovered a deeply entrenched scheme," Steve Berman, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “Chrysler and Cummins spent years lying through their teeth and making empty promises to deliver the cleanest trucks on the market -- lip service to deceptively dominate what they saw as a profitable market.”

Regulatory shift

The alleged fraud was prompted by a regulatory shift in 2001, according to the filing. Companies saw an opportunity for growth after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced stringent new emissions standards for heavy-duty diesel engines effective 2010. Chrysler and Cummins bet they could leapfrog the industry and produce a vehicle to meet those standards three years ahead of schedule, according to the complaint. 

Cummins increased its r&d budget by 60 percent from 2002 to 2007 to $321 million, about a quarter of which was dedicated to meeting the new standards. The outcome, though, was a flawed engine with limited capacity for trapping excess emissions, according to the complaint.

Diesel engines, while more fuel-efficient, produce greater volumes of nitrogen oxide pollutants, or NOx. Cummins’s engines had limited capacity to store or dispose of the NOx. Instead of NOx being broken down in a process called regeneration, the pollutant had a tendency to escape from the vehicle, sometimes nearly doubling emissions and reducing the vehicle’s fuel efficiency as much as 4 percent, according to the complaint.

The process concealed the true emissions output and wore down the car’s catalytic converter, which could cost as much as $5,000 to replace.

Reimbursement sought 

The companies failed to disclose the engines’ shortcomings, which would have prompted drivers to reconsider FCA's marketing and ultimately the value of the vehicles, according to the complaint. The suit seeks reimbursement and damages for truck owners.

Rushing to the market to beat competitors was only part of the reason for the fraudulent design, according to the complaint. Cummins also sought to “bank emissions credits to spend on other, dirtier engines,” according to the complaint.

VW resolved a major chunk of its dispute in the U.S. in October when a San Francisco federal judge approved a $14.7 billion settlement with drivers intended to get 480,000 cars with polluting 2.0-liter diesel engines off the road by June 2019. The company is still trying to reach a settlement covering about 80,000 VW and Audi models with 3.0-liter diesel engines. This month, the company was accused in a lawsuit of installing defeat devices on more than 100,000 vehicles with 3.0-liter gasoline engines.

The German carmaker’s technology partner Robert Bosch GmbH is also accused in the lawsuits of playing a key role in the development of VW’s emission-cheating technology.

FCA vs. Cummins

The class action suit comes as Fiat Chrysler and Cummins are fighting over the costs of an emissions recall involving a different, newer population of trucks.

Cummins spokesman Jon Mills said the lawsuit "has no merit. We are obviously disappointed in the effort to tarnish our image and we plan to vigorously defend ourselves."

Reuters reported on Oct. 10 that FCA and Cummins have been fighting over the $200 million estimated cost for a recall of 130,000 newer 2500 Ram pickup trucks equipped with Cummins diesel engines that could exceed U.S. pollution limits.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board have demanded a recall of 2013-2015 model year Ram 2500 pickup trucks with 6.7L Cummins diesel engines because moisture can lead to the deactivation of the selective catalyst reduction system, causing excess nitrogen oxide emissions, Cummins said.

Fiat Chrysler has sued Cummins to recover the $60 million it has spent to date repairing 42,000 trucks at its own expense, a company lawyer said in court documents. Settlement talks are ongoing.

Cummins counter-sued, saying FCA would not cooperate in the recall "for one reason -- money" and said the automaker was "holding both Cummins and its own customers hostage."

When the emissions system fails, the warning light goes on and if the vehicle isn't fixed soon the vehicles go into "limp mode" that allow them to only be driven very slowly.