Porsche to pay €535 million over diesel cheating

8 May 2019

German prosecutors have imposed a €535 million fine on Porsche AG. The fine is a consequence of Porsche’s involvement in the Dieselgate scandal, which uncovered companies cheating emissions tests.

The department specifically targeted by the prosecutors was development, which it said had ignored its supervisory legal obligations – meaning cars emitting excess pollution were sold by the carmaker.

′Concluding the proceedings is another important step towards ending the diesel topic.’

Not stopping at fining the carmaker itself, individual engineers were also targeted by the prosecutors for their lack of oversight also leading to excess emissions.

While accepting the fine, Porsche was quick to denounce diesel on the whole, saying in a statement: ′Porsche AG has never developed and produced diesel engines. Concluding the proceedings is another important step towards ending the diesel topic.’

Last year, Porsche officially ended production of its diesel cars – the Macan S Diesel and Panamera 4S Diesel.

A statement at the time read: ′Diesel engines traditionally play a subordinate role at Porsche. Porsche does not develop or build diesel engines itself. Currently, the demand for diesel models is falling, whereas interest in hybrid and petrol models is increasing significantly.’

The fine comes off the back of a more than €1 billion fine imposed on the Volkswagen (VW) Group last year for its part in the Dieselgate scandal.

′Volkswagen AG accepted the fine, and it will not lodge an appeal against it. Volkswagen AG, by doing so, admits its responsibility for the diesel crisis and considers this as a further major step towards the latter being overcome,’ the manufacturer said in a statement at the time.

The carmaker was also forced to pay compensation to customers in the US over the Dieselgate scandal, which prompted German prosecutors to consider similar measures.