VW cops $1.5bn fine

German authorities slug car maker over emissions scandal

AUTOMAKER Volkswagen says it’s being fined 1 billion euros ($1.550 billion) by German authorities in connection with the diesel emissions scandal.

Volkswagen said in a statement that it would accept the fine imposed by prosecutors in the German city of Braunschweig.

Prosecutors concluded that Volkswagen failed to properly oversee the activity of its engine development department, resulting in some 10.7 million diesel vehicles with illegal emissions-controlling software being sold worldwide.

The scandal, which came to light in the United States in 2015, has already cost the German automaker billions in penalties imposed by US authorities.

Volkswagen said it hoped that paying the German fine would have “positive effects on other official proceedings being conducted in Europe against Volkswagen” and its subsidiaries.

It comes after German prosecutors raided the home of Rupert Stadler, chief executive of Volkswagen subsidiary Audi, over suspicion of fraud related to diesel emissions cheating by the firm.

“Since May 30 the chief executive of Audi Professor Rupert Stadler and another member of the current executive board have been regarded as suspects,” prosecutors in Bavarian capital Munich said in a statement.

“They are each accused of fraud as well as indirectly falsifying certifications. This relates to bringing diesel vehicles fitted with manipulative emissions management software into circulation on the European market.”

The latest probe follows a mass recall ordered by German authorities earlier this month of some 60,000 Audi A6 and A7 cars across Europe to remove illegal emissions control software, while prosecutors raided offices and the homes of some workers in February, March and April.