Ram to recall more than 900,000 pick-ups fitted with emissions cheat devices – report

More than 900,000 pick-ups built by Ram will be recalled in the US, as the company’s engine supplier faces a bill of $US2 billion ($AU2.98 billion) after it was found to have fitted illegal emissions-defeating software to vehicles made across a six-year period.

News agency Reuters reports diesel engine specialist Cummins will pay a record $US1.675 billion ($AU2.49 billion) in fines after a lawsuit filed by the US Justice Department and state of California was finalised earlier this week.

Cummins is understood to have fitted “defeat devices” – which either bypass or completely disable the engine’s emissions sensors and computers – in approximately 630,000 Ram 2500 and 3500 pick-ups built between 2013 and 2019.

An additional 330,000 Ram 2500 and 3500s were equipped with an “undisclosed auxiliary emission software” – designed to trigger different engine emissions under varying conditions – with the affected vehicles ranging from the 2019 to 2023 Model Year.

The engines in the pick-ups are a 6.7-litre six-cylinder turbo-diesel, as found in Australian-delivered examples of the Ram 2500 and 3500.

It is not known whether pick-ups sold by Ram Trucks Australia will be recalled.

Despite agreeing to the $US1.675 billion ($AU2.49 billion) settlement – which does not include the estimated $US325 million ($AU483.5 million) to remove the defeat devices, and $US175 million ($AU260 million) to offset the result of its emissions in California – Cummins has denied any wrongdoing.

The settlement is reportedly the largest civil penalty issued under the US Clean Air Act, though it pales in comparison to the $US14.7 billion ($AU21.87 billion) Volkswagen paid in fines to the US after its infamous ‘Dieselgate’ scandal.

It is the second time Ram has been caught up in an emissions cheating scandal within the past two years, after the pick-up maker’s parent company – Dutch conglomerate Stellantis – entered a guilty plea for an unrelated case in 2022.

Certain Ram 1500s – built from 2014 to 2016 – and Jeep Grand Cherokee four-wheel-drives were powered by a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 which featured software allowing excessive levels of nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere, costing Stellantis $US300 million ($AU446 million) in fines.