Porsche to pay 535 million euros for diesel cheats in Germany
This is in addition to similar fines levied against other VW Group brands like VW and Audi.
Germany has already levied fines against Volkswagen and Audi for their roles in the Dieselgate scandal and the over-polluting cars they sold. Now, it's Porsche's turn to pay the piper.
Porsche has been hit with a 535 million-euro (about $598 million) fine in Germany for "lapses in supervisory duties" that allowed Dieselgate to occur, Reuters reports. Of the three VW Group units hit with a fine for similar reasons, Porsche's is the smallest -- Audi paid 800 million euros (about $894 million), while Volkswagen had to eat a 1 billion euro (about $1.2 billion) fine.
All three automakers produced vehicles that did not adhere to legal limits regarding diesel tailpipe emissions. Some vehicles were gamed to pass regulatory tests, only to emit in excess of the legal limit once on the road. The issue was first uncovered in 2015, and since then, Volkswagen Group has found itself in and out of courthouses on both sides of the Atlantic.
According to Reuters, VW Group has spent some 30 billion euros (about $33.5 billion) in penalties and fines as a result of its misdeeds, which it fully acknowledges. It's unclear if that total also includes money paid toward buyback schemes and other programs instituted to help remove or remedy these dirty diesels. Previous reports had pegged VW's financial responsibility in the US alone to exceed $25 billion, but that includes the buyback programs and one-time payments to affected owners.
In addition to the companies being punished, prosecutors in the US and abroad have pursued individuals for their roles in the scandal. In mid-2018, then-Audi CEO Rupert Stadler was arrested in Germany over concerns that he might obstruct the Dieselgate investigation. Former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn is facing charges in the US for his role in the scandal, but Germany won't extradite him. In 2017, former VW engineer James Liang was sentenced to 40 months in a US federal prison.
