Photo: Dodge
After being fined $40 million for reporting inflated sales figures, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is under pressure once again. This time around, the automaker behind Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Ferrari, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, and Ram Trucks is facing $79 million in penalties for missing out the fuel economy requirements of vehicles from the 2017 model year.
What’s even funnier is that FCA was fined $77 million in 2018 over the 2016 model year, a civil penalty that eclipses the $40 million paid in 2011. Machinery Observer reports that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is one of 13 automakers in the United States that failed to adjust to the 2017 fuel economy and emissions requirements without utilizing credits.
For the 2017 model year, the fleet average fell short of the 33.8-mpg requirement by 1.5 miles per gallon while the shortfall was half a mile per gallon for the 2016 model year. In other words, the gas-guzzler tax on the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye is only the tip of the iceberg.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the trend will only worsen going forward. The fleet average is expected to increase in the negative sense of the word, and in the meantime, Washington D.C. lobbyists are trying to loosen the federal government’s involvement.
Back in September 2019, the Trump administration made it clear that a freeze to the CAFE standards is the best way to make ends meet. The proposal would suspend the requirements at the current benchmark of 37 miles per gallon, suspending the increase that had been scheduled for 2025.
CAFE standards date back to the days when Gerald Ford was at the White House, a reaction to the hardships brought by oil and gas shortages. It’s because of them the Malaise Era soldiered on through 1983 and why the C4 Corvette with the 5.7-liter V8 engine had only 205 horsepower on tap.
Turning our focus back to the present day, regulators and environmentalists are fighting against any rollback in fleet average requirements. Given the natural disasters brought by climate change in 2019 alone, we’re with the greens on this one.
For the 2017 model year, the fleet average fell short of the 33.8-mpg requirement by 1.5 miles per gallon while the shortfall was half a mile per gallon for the 2016 model year. In other words, the gas-guzzler tax on the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye is only the tip of the iceberg.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the trend will only worsen going forward. The fleet average is expected to increase in the negative sense of the word, and in the meantime, Washington D.C. lobbyists are trying to loosen the federal government’s involvement.
Back in September 2019, the Trump administration made it clear that a freeze to the CAFE standards is the best way to make ends meet. The proposal would suspend the requirements at the current benchmark of 37 miles per gallon, suspending the increase that had been scheduled for 2025.
CAFE standards date back to the days when Gerald Ford was at the White House, a reaction to the hardships brought by oil and gas shortages. It’s because of them the Malaise Era soldiered on through 1983 and why the C4 Corvette with the 5.7-liter V8 engine had only 205 horsepower on tap.
Turning our focus back to the present day, regulators and environmentalists are fighting against any rollback in fleet average requirements. Given the natural disasters brought by climate change in 2019 alone, we’re with the greens on this one.
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