Fiat Chrysler Reportedly To Settle U.S. Civil Suit Over Diesel Emissions

(RTTNews) - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCAU) will pay a civil penalty of less than $500 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Justice Department, which alleged some of its diesel-powered vehicles violated clean-air rules, according to the reports citing people familiar with the matter.

Fiat Chrysler won't have to admit wrongdoing and will agree to pay owners of roughly 104,000 diesel-powered SUVs and pickups to update the emissions software on the vehicles via a recall, the reports said.

The settlement is scheduled to be announced Thursday by the Justice Department in Washington.

Volkswagen AG in January 2017 pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to pay some $4.3 billion in U.S. penalties for its scheme to deliberately rig hundreds of thousands of U.S. diesel vehicles to cheat on emissions tests. The VW scandal extended to some 11 million other vehicles the company sold worldwide and led to U.S. criminal charges against eight people. The company has set aside more than $30 billion to cover costs and settlements, including $15 billion to buy back or fix vehicles in the U.S.