Volkswagen Won’t be Fined for Emissions Cheating in Europe

Volkswagen may escape fines from Germany’s Transport Ministry for cheating on emissions even though public outrage in Europe continues to grow, according to a new report from Automotive News. Ingo Strater, a spokesman from the German Transport Ministry, said fixing diesel-powered vehicles to meet legal standard was enough for Volkswagen. However, Bild, the most-read newspaper in Germany, criticized Volkswagen for its failure to give any form of compensation to owners affected by the scandal, which was around 2.4 million in Germany. Volkswagen Group CEO Matthias Mueller’s decision to reject compensation for German owners of vehicles affected by the scandal has since caused growing discontent toward the company.

Oliver Krisher, a member of Germany’s Bundestag, said that it’s not fair that Volkswagen doesn’t need to pay a fine in its home country and that European and American drivers aren’t treated equally. Krischer, who belongs to the Green Party, also noted that there has to be an explanation why Volkswagen doesn’t get fined for its actions. In its home country, Volkswagen isn’t subjected to the same hefty fines as it is in the U.S. where it may pay upwards of $15 billion in compensations, fees, and other expenses related to the diesel emissions cheating scandal. Instead, a low-cost fix that included a software update and a pipe with mesh on one end was approved likely thanks to the company’s political influence, AN reports.

Automotive News points out that the disparity between the way the diesel emissions cheating scandal is being handled in the U.S. and in Europe is due to the differences in legal and regulatory structures of the respective regions. European consumers are at a disadvantage because there’s no way to start a class-action lawsuit, which hurts their ability to leverage negotiations. Additionally, the European Union doesn’t ban devices like the ones used in Volkswagen’s vehicles to cheat emissions testing, enabling them to be used if they help protect powertrain components such as the engine.

Germany has also tried to put pressure on other automakers to prove that emissions issues are not just a problem faced by the Volkswagen Group. It tried to force a number of automakers to fix temperature-control setups in 630,000 vehicles. FCA was one of the major auto manufacturers that Germany tried to put pressure on but was brushed off by Italy since it has authority over FCA’s European vehicles.

Stefan Bratzel, director at the Center of Automotive Management at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, also told AN the government is protecting Volkswagen to a certain extent since the company could be pushed to a breaking point if the same fines and charges are applied in its home country. Bratzel also noted that Germany’s Transport Ministry has been damaged by Volkswagen’s diesel emission cheating scandal, and that it is in its best interest for the scandal to disappear.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription required)

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