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Fiat Chrysler faces $79 million U.S. penalty for fuel economy shortfall

WASHINGTON — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV on Wednesday said it faces a $79 million U.S. civil penalty for failing to meet 2017 fuel economy requirements, as regulators reported more automakers were falling short of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions standards. The Italian-American automaker said the payment is not expected to have a material impact on its business. Of 18 major carmakers in the United States, 13 including Fiat Chrysler failed to comply with fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards for the 2017 model year without using credits, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The agency said its review of model year 2017 vehicles showed "automakers falling further behind current standards." The 2017 model fleet fell 1 1/2 miles per gallon short of the 33.8 mpg standard based on yearly performance without including credits, NHTSA reported. The shortfall was a half-mile per gallon for the 2016 model year. NHTSA said more automakers were failing to comply with standards for the 2018 and 2019 model years, "and the potential penalties on automakers, which are passed along to consumers, are expected to continue to increase." The Trump administration has used the widening gap between the emissions of automakers' U.S. fleets, which are skewing toward larger vehicles, and national vehicle CO2 emissions standards to bolster its case for freezing vehicle emissions and mileage standards at current levels through 2026. Environmental groups and regulators in California and other states are fighting against any rollback in standards, saying tough rules are needed to address climate change and reduce consumer outlays for fuel. NHTSA and the Environmental Protection Agency are working to finalize as early as next month a rewrite of the Obama administrationÂ’s fuel efficiency requirements, which call for sharp reductions in fleet-wide emissions by 2026. Fiat Chrysler is paying fines for the shortfall in its domestic passenger car fleet, which includes several front-wheel-drive Jeep and rear-drive Dodge SUVs and some sedans and muscle cars. The automaker killed its slow-selling domestic small and midsize sedans. After paying $77.3 million last year for a 2016 model year fuel-economy shortfall, a Fiat Chrysler spokesman confirmed Wednesday the company had received a letter on the 2017 penalty and has 60 days to pay the fine.

Move over Audi, now Chrysler has a beef with Tesla's claims

In the same week that Audi said "not so fast" to some claims from Tesla, Chrysler has responded to a new press release from the California-based EV-maker by saying "not exactly, Tesla." The statement, released through the company's blog, comes in response to Tesla claiming it was "the only American car company to have fully repaid the government." Chrysler notes that it, too, recently paid back Uncle Sam from its 2008 bailout. Similar to Audi's recent press release, which was eventually and mysteriously deleted from the German automaker's site, Chrysler is both right and wrong in its statement.
Tesla specifically said that it had paid back the Department of Energy loans that many automakers received - including Fisker and VPG Autos - while Chrysler's retort argues Tesla is "unmistakably incorrect" since it repaid the government in 2011 a full six years early. Technically, the statements from both automakers are correct, but Tesla's startup loan originated from the DoE, while Chrysler's loan came in bailout form from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Further, as The Detroit News notes, Chrysler's loan still cost taxpayers well over a billion dollars after all was said and done - those negative assets tied to "old Chrysler" in the bankruptcy did not require repayment.

Brand new cars are being sold with defective Takata airbags

If you just bought a 2016 Audi TT, 2017 Audi R8, 2016–17 Mitsubishi i-MiEV, or 2016 Volkswagen CC, we have some unsettling news for you. A report provided to a US Senate committee that oversees the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and reported on by Automotive News claims these vehicles were sold with defective Takata airbags. And it gets worse. Toyota and FCA are called out in the report for continuing to build vehicles that will need to be recalled down the line for the same issue. That's not all. The report also states that of the airbags that have been replaced already in the Takata recall campaign, 2.1 million will need to eventually be replaced again. They don't have the drying agent that prevents the degradation of the ammonium nitrate, which can lead to explosions that can destroy the airbag housing and propel metal fragments at occupants. So these airbags are out there already. We're not done yet. There's also a stockpile of about 580,000 airbags waiting to be installed in cars coming in to have their defective airbags replaced. These 580k airbags also don't have the drying agent. They'll need to be replaced down the road, too. A new vehicle with a defective Takata airbag should be safe to drive, but that margin of safety decreases with time. If all this has you spinning around in a frustrated, agitated mess, there's a silver lining that is better than it sounds. So take a breath, run your fingers through your hair, and read on. Our best evidence right now demonstrates that defective Takata airbags – those without the drying agent that prevents humidity from degrading the ammonium nitrate propellant – aren't dangerous yet. It takes a long period of time combined with high humidity for them to reach the point where they can rupture their housing and cause serious injury. It's a matter of years, not days. So a new vehicle with a defective Takata airbag should be safe to drive, but that margin of safety decreases with time – and six years seems to be about as early as the degradation happens in the worst possible scenario. All this is small comfort for the millions of people who just realized their brand-new car has a time bomb installed in the wheel or dashboard, or the owners who waited patiently to have their airbags replaced only to discover that the new airbag is probably defective in the same way (although newer and safer!) as the old one.