Audi car manufacturer has been fined nearly 1 billion USD by the German authorities. The company, part of the Volkswagen Group, accepts the fine and therefore recognizes debt. Volkswagen had previously been fined 1 billion euros because of the scandal with friction systems.
It concerns cars with V6 and V8 diesel engines. The company has sold almost 5 million of these worldwide since 2004. They were more polluting the environment than permitted, but the emission tests results were faked by the car manufacturer and the software tweaked to conceal the cheating.
Audi top man Rupert Stadler was arrested in June. The German justice suspects him of involvement in the fiddling scandal. At the beginning of this month he was therefore fired by Volkswagen corporation. The case against him did not end with this fine, the investigation is still ongoing. Stadler was replaced as Audi CEO by the Dutchman Bram Schot.
Partly due to the scandal, diesels are becoming increasingly out of favor. Porsche has already completely stopped selling of the diesel powered models. Nissan stops in a while with diesels in Europe and Toyota plans to join the initiative at the end of this year. A large trade-in program has been announced in Germany to replace the diesel cars.
Abaigael Schlomski is an accomplished economist and financial journalist with over a decade of experience in the industry. He is a regular contributor to EconomicInform, where he provides in-depth analysis and expert commentary on the latest economic trends and events. With a keen understanding of the financial markets and a talent for breaking down complex economic concepts for a general audience, Maurice is a trusted and respected voice in the field.
