New York — The US justice department opened a criminal investigation into Ford’s emissions certification process, intensifying an issue the vehicle maker disclosed two months ago.
Ford is fully co-operating with all government agencies, the vehicle maker said on Friday in a regulatory filing that disclosed the probe for the first time. The justice department notified the company of its investigation earlier in April, Kim Pittel, group vice-president of sustainability, environment and safety engineering, said in a statement.
Ford confessed in February to having taken a flawed approach to using road-load specifications to simulate how aerodynamic drag and tyre friction could affect the fuel economy of its vehicles outside testing labs. It hired an outside firm earlier in 2019 to help conduct an investigation that could stretch into the US summer.
The probe makes Ford at least the third major car maker to fall under US federal investigation over emissions in the span of a few years. Volkswagen paid a $4.3bn penalty in 2017 for misleading regulators and customers about its diesel engines’ emissions. Fiat Chrysler, which recalled almost 863,000 vehicles that violate pollution standards in March, faces an ongoing criminal probe, Bloomberg News has reported.
Ford shares pared their advance following a better-than-expected earnings report Thursday. The stock was up 8.2% to $10.17 as of 9.38am on Friday in New York after climbing as much as 9% earlier in pre-market trading.
The US Environmental Protection Agency and justice department did not immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment.
(Updates with statement in second paragraph.)
With Keith Naughton and Ryan Beene
Bloomberg
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