(Washington) General Motors (GM) will have to pay a penalty of nearly $146 million to the U.S. federal government because 5.9 million of its older vehicles fail to meet emissions and fuel economy standards.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement Wednesday that some GM vehicles from model years 2012 through 2018 did not meet federal fuel economy requirements.
The fine comes after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said its tests showed GM’s pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) emit an average of 10 percent more carbon dioxide than the company’s initial compliance tests claimed.
The EPA says the vehicles will remain on the road and cannot be repaired.
GM said in a statement that all regulations regarding pollution certification and mileage of its vehicles were met and that the company had complied with the Clean Air Act.
The enforcement actions affect about 4.6 million full-size pickups and SUVs and about 1.3 million midsize SUVs, the EPA said. Affected models include the Chevy Tahoe, Cadillac Escalade and Chevy Silverado.
GM will be required to forfeit “credits” used to ensure that manufacturers’ greenhouse gas emissions are below the fleet emissions standard that applies for that model year.
An EPA spokesman said the violations were not intentional.