Fiat suspected of using emissions cheat devices

The German Transport Ministry has asked the European Commission to investigate Fiat after it found what could be emissions cheat devices on certain models.

According to reports on Reuters, the ministry has referred to data collected by the German motor vehicle authority (KBA) that suggests Fiat 500X, Fiat Doblo and Jeep Renegade models could be cheating tests.

During KBA tests, it was reportedly found that some Fiat vehicles were only running their pollution reducing systems for 22 minutes. An official laboratory emissions test runs for about 20 minutes.

The KBA’s findings were raised with Italian authorities earlier this year with claims that both Fiat and its sister company Chrysler were equipping cars with illegal exhaust manipulation devices.

Since the devices affected the way cars performed in tests to give them better than real-life results, similarities with Volkswagen and its use of a software-based system have been drawn.

"It is first and foremost a dialogue between the two member states concerned, with an obligation to keep the Commission informed and the possibility for the Commission to facilitate a solution if no agreement can be found," said the Commission in its latest statement.

According to Reuters, the Italian infrastructure ministry, of which the motor authority is a part, said it hadn’t received any contact from German authorities. It added that Italy’s own tests for the Fiat 500 had shown it to conform to legal requirements.

The tests came as part of a wider European movement for regulators to retest vehicles following Volkswagen’s dieselgate scandal.

Autocar has contacted Fiat for official comment on the accusations, but it hasn't yet offered a response.