The Stuttgart Public Prosecutor’s Office issued a fine notice against Porsche AG for the grand total of €535 million ($598 million), consisting of a €4 million ($4.4 million) penalty for negligent breach of duty, and a levy of economic benefits worth €531 million ($594 million).
This massive fine is also said to “comprehensively end the administrative offense proceedings of the Stuttgart Public Prosecutor’s Office against Porsche AG.” The automaker meanwhile has not filed an appeal against the fine notice.
What were the findings?
The German automaker released the following statement: “According to the investigation results of the Stuttgart Public Prosecutor’s Office negligent breaches of supervisory duties occurred in a department of the division for development several levels below the executive board in the exhaust gas-related testing of vehicles in relation to their regulatory conformity. According to the Stuttgart Public Prosecutor’s Office, the violations of supervisory duties were contributory to partial deviations of Porsche vehicles from regulatory requirements in the period from 2009.”
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Porsche also made sure to add that it has never developed and produced diesel engines and that concluding these proceedings is “another important step towards ending the diesel topic.”
Last year, Porsche announced that it would stop building diesel-powered models, choosing instead to focus all of its resources on the development of gasoline engines, high-performance hybrid units and electric mobility.
Back in September, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume did reassure customers that his company would continue to look after owners of diesel-powered models, saying: “Porsche is not demonizing diesel. It is, and will remain, an important propulsion technology. We as a sports car manufacturer, however, for whom diesel has always played a secondary role, have come to the conclusion that we would like our future to be diesel-free.”
“Naturally we will continue to look after out existing diesel customers with the professionalism they expect,” he concluded.