Since the Dieselgate scandal broke in 2015, revealing how Volkswagen in Germany had been illegally manipulating its engines to bypass the German Clean Air Act, the automotive industry in the country has faced a huge loss of public trust and has faced sanctions from the EU, among other public bodies. As of 2020, the company had had to pay over $33 billion USD in criminal fines, as well as penalties, financial settlements, and compensation for those who bought the affected cars.

The manipulation in question aimed to help the cars bypass government regulations on the emissions that vehicles were allowed to produce; although in a test setting, the vehicles appeared to conform to these standards, in a real-world scenario they emitted up to 40x more nitrous oxide. Nearly half a million cars with this illegal bypass were produced and sold in the USA between 2009 and 2015, resulting in a measurable increase in emissions.

As a result of Dieselgate, EU law changed to reflect the new right of the European Commission to check whether cars are conforming to the legal emission standards, and to recall them if necessary, as well as fining the company. These fines can be up to €30 000 for each offending vehicle.

As of July 2021, the company is facing yet another set of fines, this time from the European Commission. These total €875 million, on the basis of the company having broken EU antitrust rules by the use of their bypass. This is the first time that antitrust violations have been prosecuted legally, making it somewhat ambiguous – VW is considering whether to appeal the decision on legal terms, and the company has until mid-September to make its final decision.

It was not only Volkswagen that was affected by Dieselgate – increasing regulations on diesel-powered vehicles and new engineering requirements made them less attractive both to manufacturers and to consumers; this has contributed to the increasing sales of electric cars.

Source: www.dw.com