Porsche cops $854m dieselgate slug

PORSCHE has been slugged €535 million ($A854m) by German officials for its part in the dieselgate affair, bringing combined Volkswagen Group penalties to more than €2.3 billion ($A3.6b) in Germany alone. 

 

The high-end sportscar company has announced it will not appeal the penalty and will pay the fine, thus bringing the curtain down on a messy chapter not of its making.

 

In announcing the conclusion of the dieselgate case, Porsche reiterated that it never developed or produced the diesel engines fitted to some of its models – a pointed dig at VW Group affiliate Audi which supplied Porsche with such engines for its Macan, Cayenne and Panamera.

 

However, the Stuttgart Public Prosecutor’s Office held Porsche responsible, hitting the company with a €535m penalty made up of a €4m ($A6.38m) fine and a €531m ($A847m) levy for the profits allegedly made by Porsche from the deceit.

 

According to Porsche’s statement, the prosecutors pointed the finger at a department “several levels below the executive board in the exhaust gas-related testing of vehicles in relation to their regulatory conformity”.

 

It said a provision had been made at VW Group level for the fine payment, and that Porsche would provide for the impact on its books in its third quarter accounting.

 

Parent company Volkswagen has already been hit with a €1 billion penalty, while Audi has copped an €800m hit.

 

In 2015, VW Group admitted that 11 million vehicles were fitted with the fraudulent software that made the cars appear cleaner in laboratory tests.

 

The dieselgate affair spread to Porsche after it was discovered by independent testers that cheat software had been installed in Volkswagen vehicles to reduce exhaust emissions when official testing equipment was plugged in.

 

Porsche last year announced that it was dropping all diesel engines from its range and concentrating on petrol, hybrid and all-electric powertrains.

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