Lawsuit Contends GM Cheated on Diesel Truck Emissions Tests

VOA News
25 May 2017 (9:02PM)

Two truck owners have filed a class-action lawsuit against General Motors, alleging the company rigged diesel pickups to cheat government emissions tests.

The suit was filed Thursday in federal court in Detroit, home of the country's largest car builder.

GM is accused of installing three devices on hundreds of thousands of trucks, allowing them to spew less pollution in tests than they would on the road, under real-life driving conditions.

Plaintiffs Andrei Fenner of Mountain View, California, and Joshua Herman of Sulphur, Louisiana, said they wouldn't have purchased, or wouldn't have paid as much for, their vehicles — a 2011 GMC Sierra and a 2016 Chevrolet Silverado, respectively — had they been aware of the alleged rigging.

The lawsuit also names the German-based Bosch company for allegedly working with GM to develop the devices.

GM called the allegations "baseless," while Bosch refused to comment on an outstanding legal matter.

The price of GM shares fell about 2 percent Thursday on the news.

GM is the latest automobile giant charged with trying to fix emissions tests. The U.S. Justice Department sued Fiat Chrysler this week, claiming it used illegal software to fake emission test results on its diesel vehicles, and Germany's Volkswagen paid billions of dollars after admitting it had cheated on government emissions tests.