It's not just Volkswagen Group or Jaguar Land Rover getting caught with embarrassing excess emissions – now comes news Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) will recall about 965,000 petrol vehicles in the US and Canada which do not meet emissions standards.

Dealers will replace catalytic converters, officials told Reuters.

The recall was prompted by in-use emissions investigations conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and in-use testing by Fiat Chrysler as required by US regulations, the agency told Reuters.

EPA said it woulkd continue to investigate other Fiat Chrysler vehicles that are potentially non-compliant and may become the subject of future recalls.

The recall covers nearly 863,000 US vehicles and 103,000 Canadian vehicles, Fiat Chrysler said.

The recall includes 2011-2016 Dodge Journeys, 2011-2014 Chrysler 200s and Dodge Avengers, 2011-2012 Dodge Calibers and 2011-2016 Jeep Compass/Patriots.

Fiat Chrysler said in a statement the EPA announcement "has no safety implications. Nor are there any associated fines".

The automaker said testing of vehicles on the road showed a deterioration in the performance of the catalytic converters. The company declined to estimate the cost of the recall, only to say it had accounted for the costs in the fourth quarter of 2018.

"The issue was discovered by FCA during routine in-use emissions testing and reported to the agency," the company told Reuters. "We began contacting affected customers last month to advise them of the needed repairs, which will be provided at no charge."

The EPA said the recall would be done in phases this year due to the large number of vehicles involved and the need to find supplies of catalytic converters.

The California Air Resources (CARB) Board said 50,000 California vehicles must be repaired, or drivers "will not be able to register their vehicles".