German car makers stung

TWO of Germany’s best-known car makers have been stung by authorities as BMW said a possible fine hammered its profit and Porsche was hit with a huge charge.

BMW’s pre-tax profit fell 76pc to £653m in the first quarter after the Mini maker set aside £1.2bn for a fine it expects to receive from EU competition authorities.

The European Commission has told German car makers they face hefty fines for allegedly working together to delay the introduction of clean emissions technology between 2006 and 2014. BMW denies colluding with Daimler and Volkswagen and said it will contest the allegations.

It made a record number of cars in the quarter – 605,333 vehicles – but revenues fell 1pc to £19bn.

Luxury group Porsche was slapped with a £458m fine by prosecutors in Stuttgart for neglecting supervisory duties that permitted the Volkswagen ‘Dieselgate’ scandal, leading to the sale of cars that did not comply with emissions rules.

Porsche, a division of VW, was involved in the emissions test-cheating episode exposed in 2015 because some of its cars used engines made by VW brands.

Porsche has not appealed and parent company VW will take the financial impact of the fine into its second-quarter figures. Dieselgate has already cost VW £26bn.