.....cue music.......one.....billion.....dollars......


EU Commission fines Volkswagen and BMW $1 billion for emissions collusion

....The European Commission has fined Volkswagen Group and BMW $1 billion for colluding with Daimler to hold back the development of technology that could have reduced harmful emissions from their vehicles.

In a statement on Thursday, the Commission said the three German carmakers, along with Volkswagen subsidiaries Audi and Porsche, breached EU antitrust rules by agreeing to avoid competing on technical development in the area of nitrogen oxide cleaning.

The charges relate to conduct that took place between 2009 and 2014, when the carmakers held "regular technical meetings" to discuss the development of technology that eliminates harmful nitrogen-oxide emissions from diesel passenger cars, according to the Commission.

"The five car manufacturers Daimler, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche possessed the technology to reduce harmful emissions beyond what was legally required under EU emission standards. But they avoided to compete on using this technology's full potential to clean better than what is required by law," the EU Commission's top antitrust official, Margrethe Vestager, said in the statement.

"In today's world, polluting less is an important characteristic of any car. And this cartel aimed at restricting competition on this key competition parameter," she added.

Volkswagen, including its Audi and Porsche brands, was fined €502 million ($595 million) and BMW was fined €373 million ($442 million). Daimler was not fined because it revealed the existence of the cartel, the Commission said.

Volkswagen said it was considering whether to appeal the ruling, which it suggested set a questionable precedent.

"The Commission is breaking new legal ground with this decision, because it is the first time it has prosecuted technical cooperation as an antitrust violation," the company said in a statement. "It is also imposing fines even though the contents of the talks were never implemented and customers were therefore never harmed," it added.

Europe's largest automaker said that Commission guidelines on technical cooperation agreements between carmakers "no longer do justice to the complex challenges facing the automotive industry" and need to be updated.

In a statement, BMW said that the Commission had "dropped most of its charges of antitrust violations" and cleared the carmaker of suspicion of using "prohibited defeat devices" to cheat on emissions tests. "This underlines that there has never been any allegation of unlawful manipulation of emission control systems by the BMW Group," the company added.

In 2015 Volkswagen admitted to rigging millions of diesel engines to make their emissions appear less toxic in tests than they actually were. The scandal set off years of investigations, fines and settlements that have cost the carmaker at least $39 billion and sullied its reputation.

Last month, Volkswagen's former CEO Martin Winterkorn agreed to pay the company nearly $14 million after an investigation found he failed to respond properly to signs that the company may have been using illegal diesel engine technology.


probably........not high enough of a fine......?!

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2021 09:38AM by NewtonMP2100.

Why would they not want to reduce harmful emissions?

• Added expense for customers?
• Decreased performance?
• Cost too much to implement?

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Northern California Coast

VW coulda stuck with their air cooled engines but then they'd have sold a whole hellofa lot less cars. The extra sales will cover the fines, cost of doing underhanded business. In the long run no executive who made those decisions will ever serve time or even be held personally responsible.

Capitalism at it's most efficient.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2021 10:30AM by RgrF.

Pocket spare change.

As I recall, one VW executive did get jailed. I agree that 'going to jail' should be part of the penalty. A reduction in corporate profit is passed along to the customers. But tell the C-suite and the Board that their butts will be in jail.. they will be a lot more careful with the laws.

I'm just making crap up, but I can totally see not bothering with the effort and cost of bandaids for ICE, since they are putting mass dollars into electric vehicles, which completely leapfrog tech like this.

It usually takes reducing mileage/performance and added long term repair costs to meet emission goals. I think it is a mandatory 10 year manufacturer's warranty for emissions. A quick search indicates BMW has occasional EGR system problems.

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In tha 360. MRF User Map

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cbelt3
As I recall, one VW executive did get jailed. I agree that 'going to jail' should be part of the penalty. A reduction in corporate profit is passed along to the customers. But tell the C-suite and the Board that their butts will be in jail.. they will be a lot more careful with the laws.

I believe the executive that went to jail (if any) was for the diesel cheating scandal. This story is about a cartel to stop improving tech, not about cheating. I think this is a different story.

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kj
I'm just making crap up, but I can totally see not bothering with the effort and cost of bandaids for ICE, since they are putting mass dollars into electric vehicles, which completely leapfrog tech like this.

I don't think they realized that ICE was going to be replaced by EV at that time

The charges relate to conduct that took place between 2009 and 2014,

remember, these people didn't take TESLA seriously until a few years ago.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2021 06:38PM by space-time.

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space-time

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kj
I'm just making crap up, but I can totally see not bothering with the effort and cost of bandaids for ICE, since they are putting mass dollars into electric vehicles, which completely leapfrog tech like this.

I don't think they replied that ICE was going to be replaced by EV at that time

The charges relate to conduct that took place between 2009 and 2014,

remember, these people didn't take TESLA seriously until a few years ago.

Yeah, you're right. BMW was probably just starting to sell the i3 by the end of that, so it probably wouldn't have figured into anything yet. I guess it's just increasing pressure to meet requirements. I'm glad standards have continued to push the envelope, but I have read that it really has been very difficult for auto manufacturers to do (while still offering what people want, which is generally what they shouldn't).

Unless the penalty is more than the profit, the fines are just the cost of doing business.

they should add a zero or two.

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If you have Netflix, season 1, episode 1 of Dirty Money covers this topic.