American legacy automaker General Motors has agreed to pay more than $145.8 million in penalties to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for the excess emissions of its 5.9 million vehicles in the United States.
EPA investigation
According to the press release, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) light-duty vehicle in-use testing program discovered excess emissions from approximately 5.9 million GM vehicles.
The EPA officially announced Wednesday that GM agreed to retire about 50 million metric tons of greenhouse gas credits to compensate for the excess emissions the agency identified.
The settlement emerged after the multi-year probe by EPA and NHTSA, which found millions of its offerings from the 2012-2018 model years were emitting over 10% higher carbon dioxide on average than the company claimed in its initial compliance reports.
Scope
The regulatory measure covers 4.6 million light-duty pickup trucks and 1.3 million “medium” SUVs, including the following:
| Model Years | Size | Models | Test groups | Affected number of vehicles |
| 2012 to 2017 | 2.4L | Chevrolet Equinox FWD, Chevrolet Captiva FWD, GMC Terrain FWD | CGMXJ02.4150, CGMXJ02.4151, CGMXJ02.4199, DGMXJ02.4151, DGMXJ02.4199, DGMXJ02.5150, EGMXJ02.4199, EGMXJ02.5150, EGMXT02.4151, FGMXJ02.4199, FGMXJ02.5150, FGMXT02.4151, GGMXJ02.4199, GGMXT02.4151, HGMXJ02.4199, HGMXT02.4151 | 1,307,946 |
| 2012 to 2014 | 5.3L | Chevrolet K1500 TAHOE 4WD, Chevrolet C1500 TAHOE 2WD, Chevrolet K15 SILVERADO 4WD, Chevrolet C15 SILVERADO 2WD, Chevrolet C15 SILVERADO 2WD XFE, GMC C15 SIERRA 2WD, GMC C15 SIERRA 2WD XFE, GMC K15 SIERRA 4WD, GMC K1500 YUKON 4WD, GMC K1500 YUKON XL 4WD, GMC C1500 YUKON 2WD, GMC C1500 YUKON XL 2WD, Chevrolet C1500 Suburban 2WD, Chevrolet K1500 Suburban 4WD, Chevrolet C15 Avalanche 2WD, Chevrolet K15 Avalanche 4WD | CGMXT05.3373, CGMXT05.3381, DGMXT05.3373, DGMXT05.3381, EGMXT05.3373, EGMXT05.3381 | 972,895 |
| 2012 to 2014 | 6.2L | Cadillac ESCALADE 2WD, Cadillac ESCALADE ESV 2WD, GMC C1500 YUKON 2WD, GMC C1500 YUKON XL 2WD, Cadillac ESCALADE AWD, GMC K1500 YUKON DENLI AWD | CGMXT06.2374, CGMXT06.2375, DGMXT06.2374, DGMXT06.2375, EGMXT06.2373, EGMXT6.2374, EGMXT06.2375 | 75,100 |
| 2014 to 2018 | 5.3L | Chevrolet K1500 TAHOE 4WD, Chevrolet C1500 TAHOE 2WD, Chevrolet K15 SILVERADO 4WD, Chevrolet K15 SILVERADO 4WD CAB CHASSIS, Chevrolet C15 SILVERADO 2WD, Chevrolet C15 SILVERADO 2WD CAB CHASSIS, GMC K15 SIERRA 4WD, GMC K15 SIERRA 4WD CAB CHASSIS, GMC C15 SIERRA 2WD, GMC C15 SIERRA 2WD CAB CHASSIS, GMC K1500 YUKON 4WD, GMC C1500 YUKON 2WD, Chevrolet K1500 Suburban 4WD, Chevrolet C1500 Suburban 2WD, GMC K1500 Yukon XL 4WD, GMC C1500 Yukon XL 2WD | EGMXT05.3382, FGMXT05.3382, FGMXT06.2374, GGMXT05.3382, GGMXT05.3384, HGMXT05.3382, HGMXT05.3384, JGMXT05.3382, JGMXT05.3384 | 3,131,011 |
| 2014 to 2018 | 4.3L | Chevrolet C15 SILVERADO 2WD, GMC K15 SIERRA 4WD, Chevrolet K15 SILVERADO 4WD, GMC C15 SIERRA 2WD | EGMXT04.3187, FGMXT04.3187, GGMXT04.3187, HGMXT04.3187, JGMXT04.3187 | 396,340 |
“EPA’s vehicle standards depend on strong oversight in order to deliver public health benefits in the real world. Our investigation has achieved accountability and upholds an important program that’s reducing air pollution and protecting communities across the country.”
EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan
Penalty
The US regulators clarified that General Motors does not need to initiate a recall or even fix the involved vehicles. GM has apparently forfeited regulatory greenhouse gas credits to compensate for the added emissions.
That said, the American legacy automaker will pay $145.8 million in fines for fuel economy compliance issues and give up more than 30.6 million CAFE credits for the 2008-2010 model year vehicles to settle the case, according to Reuters.
GM’s credit retirement will occur in the EPA’s next Automotive Trends and GHG Compliance Report update on its Automotive Trends Report webpage later this year.
