Stellantis has paid $190.6 million in penalties so far this year for failing to meet U.S. fuel economy requirements, according to figures released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and confirmed by the automaker.
The agency said in its annual report that Stellantis paid $112.3 million in June and $78.3 million in March to cover shortfalls from the 2019 and 2020 model years. That brings the Italian-U.S. automaker’s total fuel economy fines to $773.5 million since 2018.
NHTSA noted that automakers will not face fines for missing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) rules dating back to the 2022 model year, following a law signed by former President Donald Trump that eliminated penalties under a 1975 energy statute. The shift has altered credit trading and compliance revenue across the industry. Rivian said in a recent court filing that delays in processing reports and compliance notifications for the 2022 model year and later have prevented it from finalizing $100 million in credit sales.
Other automakers have also faced substantial fines in recent years. General Motors previously paid $128.2 million for the 2016 and 2017 model years, while Tesla reported $2.8 billion in global revenue last year from regulatory credits it sells to automakers to help them meet emissions standards.
The Biden administration initially proposed stricter fuel economy rules that NHTSA estimated would cost the industry $14 billion in projected fines through 2032, including $6.5 billion for GM, $3 billion for Stellantis, and $1 billion for Ford. The final rule, adopted last year, eased requirements, with the agency projecting no more than $1.83 billion in fines across the sector through 2031.
