The diesel emissions scandals have made their rounds since 2015, when Volkswagen’s Dieselgate broke. Now, in the dawning month of 2018, Ford joins the ranks of Volkswagen, Mercedes, Audi, FCA, BMW, and others accused of disregarding emissions standards. Bloomberg reports that Ford and supplier Bosch are the targets of a lawsuit regarding the noxious emissions of over a half million of its heavy-duty F-250 and F-350 trucks sold with diesel engines between 2011 and 2017, due to nitrous oxide emissions said to be as high as 50 times the permissible limit. The lawsuit claims a total of 58 offenses against state and federal laws.
Ford and Bosch are accused of conspiring to hide the heavy emissions from scrutineers, by way of programming the computer to detect when the vehicle is undergoing emissions testing. Programming of this nature, referred to as a “defeat device,” was used as part of Volkswagen’s emissions cheating systems.
This lawsuit could not arrive at a worse time for Ford, as the company announced that the F-150 will receive the option of a 3.0-liter diesel engine on Monday, with its quip, “you’re welcome, truck fans,” in the reveal now opening the company to embarrassment. The untimely surfacing of this lawsuit may taint customer perspectives on this new engine.
The Drive reached out to Ford for comment on the lawsuit, and for information on how it is expected to affect Ford’s current and future diesel offerings.
“All Ford vehicles, including those with diesel engines, comply with all U.S. EPA and CARB emissions regulations,” stated a Ford spokesperson to The Drive, “Ford vehicles do not have defeat devices. We will defend ourselves against these baseless claims.”
“The F-150 diesel goes on sale this spring, as we previously announced.”
Aside from alleged emissions violations, recalls have also plagued Ford trucks in the last several weeks. Loose seats prompted a 200,000 vehicle recall in December, and a 153,000 vehicle recall for transmission problems could be expanded to encompass 1.4 million vehicles. On the brighter side, the cause of head gasket issues in the Focus RS was unearthed in late December so Ford can chalk up at least one problem solved.