Germany accuses Fiat of using illegal device in diesel engines: magazine

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany has written a letter to the European Commission accusing Fiat Chrysler Automobiles of using an illegal device to switch off exhaust treatment systems in diesel engines, German magazine WirtschaftsWoche reported on Thursday. Germany's car watchdog KBA began testing vehicles of several carmakers after the diesel emissions scandal that engulfed Volkswagen , Europe's biggest car manufacturer. WirtschaftsWoche said the German Transport Ministry sent a letter to the European Union's executive body in late August in which it said the KBA tests found evidence that Italian-American carmaker Fiat had illegally used a device to switch off exhaust treatment systems. In addition, it found a "special nitrogen oxide catalyst which is being switched off after a few cleaning cycles", the report said, adding the affected brands were Fiat 500X, Fiat Doblo and Jeep Renegade. "Germany does not share the Italian car type approval authority's opinion that the device to switch off exhaust treatment systems is used to protect the engine," the magazine cited the letter, which was also sent from Berlin to Rome, as saying. The German Transport Ministry and the Italian Transport Ministry were not immediately available for comment. A Fiat spokesman in Germany declined to comment. In May, Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt criticized Fiat for not showing up for a meeting to discuss emissions irregularities of its diesel vehicles. Italian Transport Minister Graziano Delrio replied at the time that German authorities should address the issue by contacting Italian car regulators and not the company directly. Following German media reports that irregularities had been found, Delrio said in June that Fiat diesel engines had been tested and found to comply with emissions regulations. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Rome, Valentina Za in Milan and Edward Taylor in Frankfurt; editing by Susan Thomas)