ROME -- Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the Italian-controlled seventh-largest auto maker, has broken the Clean Air Act over diesel emissions from around 140,000 vehicles, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Friday.

 In a way almost reminiscent of Volkswagen’s dieselgate scandal, the EPA notified Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) that it had broken the Clean Air Act over diesel emissions from around 140,000 vehicles, stressing that FCA may face heavy civil sanctions.

 This prompted the CEO of FCA Sergio Marchionne to say that no one would be so "stupid" as to have fitted such software, and he denied the accusations stating that no illegal actions were taken.

 “We have not committed any fraud, and our case has nothing to do with the Volkswagen one. We will not allow anyone to argue about the morality of our company,” said Marchionne.

 The accusations come after the president-elect Trump had praised the company for new investments by his group in the U.S, Il Corriere della sera reports.

 Shares had plunged by 16% now that Obama is leaving office, and it is looking like Marchionne stands alone. Italian journalist Federico Rampini claimed that Fiat-Chrysler (FCA) has “ended up in the distance-war between the outgoing US president and the incoming one.”

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