Cummins Inc. to Pay $1.67 Billion Penalty for Allegedly Altering Pickup Truck Engines
Cummins Inc. has agreed to pay an over $1.67 billion penalty to settle claims by regulators that the engine manufacturer unlawfully altered hundreds of thousands of pickup truck engines to bypass emissions tests.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, which announced the agreement in principle Thursday, Cummins' alleged actions violated the Clear Air Act — a federal law that requires car and engine manufacturers to comply with emission limits.
The $1.675 billion fine would be the largest civil penalty the Justice Department has secured under the Clear Air Act to date and second largest environmental penalty ever secured.
The Justice Department accuses Cummins of installing defeat devices — which can bypass or defeat emissions controls — on 630,000 2013-2019 Ram 2500 and 3500 pickup truck engines, as well as undisclosed auxiliary emission control devices on 330,000 2019-2023 Ram 2500 and 3500 pickup truck engines.
"The types of devices we allege that Cummins installed in its engines to cheat federal environmental laws have a significant and harmful impact on people's health and safety," Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a prepared statement. "Our preliminary estimates suggest that defeat devices on some Cummins engines have caused them to produce thousands of tons of excess emissions of nitrogen oxides."
According to Garland, the impact of these pollutants can have a "domino effect" on health, leading to respiratory problems and infections with prolonged exposure.
In a press release on Friday, Cummins stated that it does not admit any wrongdoing and has not found any evidence of bad faith actions.
Cummins also emphasized its cooperation with regulators and highlighted previous actions taken, such as the recall of 2019 Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks and the current recall of 2013-2018 Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks.
The company had previously set aside $59 million to cover the costs of these recalls and expects an additional charge of approximately $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023 to address these and other related matters involving around one million pickup truck applications in the United States.
Cummins has reached an agreement in principle with the U.S. and the State of California. The settlement is pending final approvals.
Stellantis, the maker of Ram vehicles, did not provide any comment on Friday.
