Stellantis fuel economy debt mounts

STELLANTIS has reportedly paid $US190.7 million ($A287.9m) in US fuel economy penalties with an astounding $US459.7 million ($A694.2m) still owing, according to US government documents.

It is understood Stellantis paid $US190.7 million in civil penalties for failing to meet US fuel economy requirements for 2019 and 2020 and owes another $US459.7 million in outstanding penalties, according to the US National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) which administers the US Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program.

Stellantis paid a record-setting $US235.5 million ($A355.6m) for 2018 and 2019 model-year vehicles, and a total of $US156.6 million ($A236.5m) in penalties for 2016 and 2017 model-year vehicles.

The disclosure, which was brought to light in an article published by Reuters this week, shows the significant compliance costs facing OEMs in the US market.

Stellantis – the parent company of Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroen, Dodge, DS, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram, and Vauxhall – said the penalties were incurred before it was created in 2021 and were “not indicative of the company’s direction”.

Globally, Stellantis is understood to be investing more than €50 billion ($A81.6b) in the production of electric vehicles, some two dozen of which are earmarked for the US market by the end of the decade.

In March 2022, the NHTSA nearly tripled penalties for OEMs whose vehicles did not meet fuel efficiency requirements for 2019 and beyond.

Last year, the NHTSA said its proposal to hike fuel economy standards through to the end of 2032 would cost the industry a projected $US14 billion ($A21.1b) in fines over a five-year period, including $US3.0 billion ($A4.5b) for Stellantis, $US6.5 billion ($A9.8b) for General Motors, and $US1.0 billion ($A1.5b) for Ford.

The NHTSA estimates that “proposed stringency increases” of CAFE regulations through to calendar year 2050 will save an estimated 88 billion US gallons (333.1 billion litres) of petrol relative to no-action alternatives.

With Reuters