Cummins offering up to $1,000 to truck owners for software recall

Indiana-based Cummins Inc. is offering up to $1,000 in cash incentives to nudge affected Ram truck owners into completing an emissions system recall related to a previously announced $2 billion settlement agreement.

This week, Cummins announced cash incentives for owners of eligible Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks from model years 2013 through 2018 who complete what the company calls Emissions Recall 67A between Feb. 17 and May 31.

The incentives take the form of prepaid Mastercards: The first 750 vehicle owners to complete the recall by March 31 will receive a $1,000 card, and all others will receive a $500 card.

Cummins describes the recall as a software update that can be completed in less than an hour at authorized Ram dealerships, at no cost to vehicle owners.

The recall is tied to a January 2024 Clean Air Act settlement agreement between Cummins, the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board. The settlement involved Cummins-made diesel engines in hundreds of thousands of Ram 2500 and 3500 heavy-duty pickup trucks.

Federal and California government officials alleged that the Cummins engines were equipped with so-called “defeat devices,” or software that allowed the vehicles to skirt emissions tests.

As part of the settlement, Cummins agreed to pay a $1.68 billion penalty—the largest ever Clean Air Act settlement at the time—and another $326 million in pollution remedies.

Cummins recorded those settlement expenses in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Also as part of the settlement, Cummins agreed to complete a nationwide recall of 600,000 Ram 2500 and 3500 pickup trucks with Cummins diesel engines.

“Cummins must repair at least 85% of the vehicles within three years or face additional penalties,” the EPA said when it announced the settlement in January 2024.

The EPA statement did not specify what those additional penalties would be, and the EPA employee listed on that announcement did not respond to an email from IBJ.

IBJ also contacted Cummins, which responded via email with the statement, “Cummins is offering a $500 incentive to eligible Ram 2500 and 3500 owners who complete Emissions Recall 67A during the program window. This is not a new recall, but a new promotion designed to encourage timely completion.”

Cummins did not answer specific questions from IBJ, including how much the company expects to spend on the incentives, whether the company has already accounted for the charges and what percentage of eligible Ram truck owners have already completed the recall.

This is not the first time that Cummins has offered cash incentives as an inducement for completion of Recall 67A. Last year, the company offered $200 prepaid Mastercards to Ram owners in Florida and Oregon for recalls completed between May 22 and Aug. 23, according to reporting from the Mopar Insiders website.