TOKYO - Suzuki is co-operating with the Dutch authorities over their findings that its diesel vehicles had broken the country's emissions rules, and it is required to respond to the investigation by mid-February, the company said on Friday.
The Dutch road authority ruled on Thursday that Suzuki's Vitara and Fiat Chrysler's Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel models broke emissions rules and must be fixed or face a ban on sales across Europe.
In a statement, Suzuki said that the diesel versions of its Vitara and S-Cross vehicles used engines and emissions software supplied by Fiat Chrysler.
The Dutch authorities said the vehicles in question, which are no longer in production, showed emissions levels higher than allowed following a software update in 2017, Suzuki said.
Earlier this week, the German authorities said they were investigating Mitsubishi Motors for suspected use of illegal, emissions defeat devices installed in its diesel engines.
"It is suspected that the motors are equipped with a so-called cheat device, which ensures that the permissible limits for nitrogen oxides are observed during test, but not during actual operation," the prosecutor's office and police in Frankfurt said in a statement.
They said that the investigation was targeting an "international automotive group, a subsidiary of an international car dealership and two international car suppliers."
Regulators across the world have been clamping down on emissions devices used in diesel models since Volkswagen admitted in September 2015 that it had used illegal software to cheat US emissions tests.
Reuters & DPA
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