STLA Stellantis NV

By Matteo Castia

Law firm PGMBM said Tuesday that it has begun proceedings at the U.K. High Court of Justice in a case against car maker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV over alleged diesel-emission breaches involving half a million vehicles in England and Wales, which it says could involve a payout of as much as 5 billion pounds ($6.52 billion).

Pogust, Goodhead, Mousinho, Bianchini and Martins claims that FCA misled customers and authorities concerning emissions produced by certain models of Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Jeep and Iveco diesel vehicles manufactured since 2008.

The U.K. law firm alleges that FCA committed fraud by "manufacturing vehicles whose true diesel emissions far exceeded the limits imposed by EU. and U.K. laws."

"FCA believes this claim to be totally without merit and we will vigorously defend ourselves against it," a spokesperson for the Italian-American multinational told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.

In 2019, Fiat Chrysler agreed to pay nearly $800 million in civil fines and mitigation costs to settle charges that it used illegal software to dupe emissions tests.

German automotive giant Volkswagen AG pled guilty to similar charges in 2017 and agreed to pay a total of $4.3 billion in criminal and civil penalties to settle a U.S. Justice Department probe.

PGMBM is a partnership of British, Brazilian and American lawyers specialized in environmental pollution claims against big corporations.

"Legally, consumers could be entitled to anything up to the full cost of the affected vehicles. But based on similar legal actions around the world, we believe that GBP10,000 per claimant should be expected," PGMBM said.

Write to Matteo Castia at matteo.castia@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 28, 2020 12:11 ET (16:11 GMT)

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