Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will end production of diesel-powered cars across the product line-ups of the Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Jeep and Maserati brands by 2022.
The Financial Times reports that FCA will make the announcement in June under a mid-term plan which will signpost the company’s targets for the next four years.
FCA, which has 20 diesel passenger models in the UK across its line-up, is abandoning diesel from all of its passenger cars, although the company has yet to comment on whether this would include diesel-only models like the Fullback pick-up truck, or its four vans, three of which are diesel-only.
Despite the plans to ditch diesel, Fiat’s diesel market share actually increased by 0.2% between 2016 and 2017. It was the only brand out of the top 25 top-sellers in Europe to increase its diesel market share.
It’s the latest blow for the black pump, little more than a week after Porsche announced the end of production for its current diesel models.
FCA hasn’t been a stranger to diesel controversy in the past. It was previously accused of using emissions manipulation software on the 500X, as more manufacturers were sucked into the scandal around the world following the Dieselgate scandal precipitated by the Volkswagen Group.
Every European FCA brand besides Abarth has at least one diesel model in its line-up, with every model across Jeep’s range having a diesel variant.
Fiat Chrysler's diesel passenger car line-up consists of:
- Alfa Romeo Giulia
- Alfa Romeo Giulietta
- Alfa Romeo Mito
- Alfa Romeo Stelvio
- Fiat 500
- Fiat 500L
- Fiat 500X
- Fiat Doblo
- Fiat Fullback
- Fiat Panda
- Fiat Qubo
- Fiat Tipo
- Jeep Cherokee
- Jeep Compass
- Jeep Grand Cherokee
- Jeep Renegade
- Jeep Wrangler
- Maserati Ghibli
- Maserati Levante
- Maserati Quattroporte
Fiat’s having a rough year so far in the UK and Europe. New car registrations on the continent dropped by 6% in January compared with the same month last year, while in the UK, registrations were almost cut in half across February compared with February 2017. Every FCA brand except Abarth posted a decline in new car registrations in the UK.
The move is likely to make waves in America - Fiat Chrysler sold 152,218 cars in the USA in January, compared with less than 85,000 in Europe. The move has drawn praise from environmental groups such as Greenpeace, although FCA's first EVs aren't due until 2020 with the Maserati Alfieri, and the first hybrids only arrive on a small number of models - a potentially challenging mix when considering ever more stringent EU emissions laws.
A Fiat-Chrysler spokesman declined to comment on the matter.
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