WASHINGTON — Transatlantic automaker Stellantis NV paid a combined $190.7 million in fines in March and April 2025 for federal fuel economy violations, according to U.S. Department of Transportation data.

The fines, assessed to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, date back to 2019 and 2020. That was before the company merged with automaker PSA Group in 2021 to form Stellantis.

The violations occurred because Fiat Chrysler failed to meet fuel economy standards for its domestic passenger cars and opted not to achieve compliance through the purchase of credits from other automakers. Stellantis and its corporate predecessor have now paid fines totaling about $773 million for noncompliance covering five consecutive model years from 2016 to 2020.

Stellantis, responding to an inquiry about the fines, confirmed the latest payments but declined to comment further.

Crosstown rival General Motors Co. has also paid significant fines under the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Corporate Average Fuel Economy program, albeit to a lesser extent. The Detroit-based automaker has paid a combined $274 million in fines for violations in 2016, 2017 and 2018 from its light truck fleet. The most recent payment came in July 2024.

Ford Motor Co. has never had to pay a CAFE penalty. The F-150 maker has instead addressed fuel economy deficiencies through credit purchases, as it did for shortfalls in model years 2017 and 2020, per NHTSA.

Going forward, U.S. automakers will face zero CAFE penalties after President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans effectively disarmed the program through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which zeroes out fines from model year 2022 onward.

The exact savings to automakers from the move are unclear, as regulators have not yet assessed civil penalties for the model years in question, but there could be significant financial impacts.

Stellantis, GM and Ford will likely be the biggest beneficiaries. The Detroit Three tend to have the worst fuel economy performance among all major U.S. automakers.

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