Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has a different US emissions problem

Chicago

LOST amid the intense scrutiny of emissions tests at Volkswagen AG and Renault SA is the fact that another European automotive powerhouse, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, is also in a tight spot with regulators.

Not for possible cheating. Far from it. FCA's problem is that its emissions record in the US is bad and time to fix it is running short.

For the fourth consecutive year, the maker of Ram pickups and Jeep sport utility vehicles finished dead last in a 2014 Environmental Protection Agency ranking of carbon-dioxide emissions among big vehicle manufacturers. And the agency plans to accelerate its CO2 targets sharply beginning next year.

To comply, FCA must improve faster than bigger and richer rivals who also are straining to cut emissions. Failing that, it might be forced to stop building some of the light-duty trucks Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kevin Tynan says deliver 90 per cent of its profit. Or, to ke…