Business Standard

Court fines Porsche $598 mn for manipulating 11 mn diesel vehicles

Tuesday's levy against Porsche is the latest in a string of fines against VW over its years-long 'dieselgate' scandal

Porsche Macan

File photo | New 2019 Porsche Macan SUV car presented at the Paris Motor Show

AFP | PTI Frankfurt Am Main

German sports car maker and Volkswagen subsidiary Porsche will pay a 535-million-euro (USD 598 million) fine over diesel vehicles that emitted more harmful pollutants than allowed, Stuttgart prosecutors said Tuesday.

"The Stuttgart prosecutor's office has levied a 535-million-euro fine against Porsche AG for negligence in quality control," the investigators said.

Porsche "abstained from a legal challenge" against the decision, the prosecutors office added.

Tuesday's levy against Porsche is the latest in a string of fines against VW over its years-long "dieselgate" scandal.

The auto behemoth admitted in 2015 to manipulating 11 million vehicles worldwide to appear less polluting in laboratory tests than they were in real driving conditions.

 

Following fines against VW, high-end subsidiary Audi and now Porsche, no further investigations over "administrative offences" remain open against the group, a spokesman told AFP.

But legal proceedings against individuals, including former chief executive Martin Winterkorn, remain open.

Meanwhile, thousands of investors are suing the company for the losses they suffered on its shares when news of the scandal broke, while hundreds of thousands of drivers are also demanding compensation.

In its own statement, Porsche said the negligence punished by prosecutors was identified "several levels below the board".

The firm also said that the cost of the fine was included in a provision of around one billion euros booked by the VW group in the first quarter.

So far the total costs of "dieselgate" for the Wolfsburg-based behemoth have mounted to 30 billion euros.

Shares in VW were down 2.2 per cent around 2:00 pm in Frankfurt (1200 GMT) at 154.10 euros, against a DAX index of blue-chip shares down 0.7 per cent.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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First Published: May 07 2019 | 6:40 PM IST

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