Ford launches probe into actual emissions of its vehicles

Ford has launched an investigation into the actual emissions of its vehicles after employees reported errors in data given to authorities, the automaker said.

"In September, a handful of employees raised a concern... regarding the analytical modeling that is part of our US fuel economy and emissions compliance process," Kim Pittel, an executive responsible for sustainability, environment and safety engineering, said in a statement released late Thursday.

"We have hired an outside firm to conduct an investigation" into specifications used in testing and "applications to certify emissions and fuel economy," Pittel said.

The statement noted that the issue is not a result of software designed to cheat the testing process to obtain more favorable emissions results, which has been used by other automakers and resulted in billions of dollars in fines.