Regulator hits Audi with €800m fine for diesel emissions offences
German prosecutors fined Audi €800m (£702m) today for breaking regulatory rules on V6 and V8 diesel engine emissions.
Audi accepted the fine, admitting responsibility for failing to correctly monitor the engines’ emissions.
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In a statement, the company warned the penalty would “significantly undercut major financial key performance indicators” forecast for this year.
Parent company Volkswagen also said today’s fine would “directly affect” earnings.
The public prosecutor gave the company the maximum financial penalty of €5m for the regulatory offences, and ordered it to pay back €795m.
“These breaches of monitoring duties were concurrent causes of certain V6 and V8 diesel aggregates developed by Audi AG not meeting regulatory requirements,” Audi said.
The ruling follows a similar scandal around diesel engines, in which Volkswagen was fined €1bn for cheating emissions tests.
Read more: Suspended Audi boss Rupert Stadler to stand down with immediate effect
The automotive giant sold more than 10m cars from 2007 to 2015 that had software installed which cheated emissions tests, prosecutors found in June.
Earlier this month, Audi chief executive Rupert Stadler left Volkswagen with immediate effect following his arrest over summer for suspected involvement in the emissions cheating scandal. He remains in custody.