Germany accuses Fiat of emissions cheating
Transport ministry finds new 'defeat device' in 500X, but Italian car-maker claims it's innocentGermany's transport ministry has announced it has found a new "defeat device" in a Fiat car sold in its market.
Declining to give full details, the German government agency instead said it would send the results to the European Commission, which is already reviewing a previous accusation Fiat had cheated emissions.
In response to the accusations, Fiat denied its cars were equipped with a cheat device and said all its cars conformed to emissions regulations.
The official German claim that the Italian car-maker had cheated emissions laws follows recent tests on a 500X SUV by German magazine Der Spiegel, which showed the Fiat's exhaust emission treatment system switched off after 90 minutes.
Der Spielgel's tests were carried out by Germany's official Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA).
Der Spiegel claimed in its report the 'switching off' of the emissions controls was another form of defeat device.
Last year in other tests, Der Spiegel reported that another Fiat vehicle's exhaust gas treatment tech switched off after just 22 minutes in operation.
The current European emissions test cycle lasts 20 minutes.
Defending itself against the claims, a Fiat spokesman said: "We are not in a position to comment on the validity or accuracy of supposed KBA internal documents or on purported emissions tests that we have never seen."
Fiat also released a statement saying the 500X had been verified and confirmed by the Italian ministry of transport and conformed to all emission requirements.
In the past other car-makers have relied on a loophole in EU law that allows them to turn off emissions control systems in certain conditions.
The common excuse given for turning off NOx-reducing tech is to prevent damage to the engine in extreme temperatures.
This is not the first time the German government has called on the European Commission over Fiat's alleged non-compliance of emission regulations.
Last year independent tests of another Fiat 500X found that in real-world driving the small SUV produced 13 times more than the allowable level of NOx.
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