Porsche fined 535 million euros for frauding diesel pollution levels

German sports car maker Porsche has been fined 535 million euros for manipulating information about vehicle pollution levels.

Porsche has been ordered to pay $130,000 in fines after causing an oil spill into the Yarra River.

Porsche has been ordered to pay $130,000 in fines after causing an oil spill into the Yarra River. Source: AAP

German sports car maker and Volkswagen subsidiary Porsche will pay a 535 million euro fine over diesel vehicles that emitted more harmful pollutants than allowed, Stuttgart prosecutors said on Tuesday.

"The Stuttgart prosecutor's office has levied a 535 million euro fine against Porsche AG for negligence in quality control," the investigators said.

Porsche "abstained from a legal challenge" against the decision, the prosecutors' office added.

Tuesday's levy against Porsche is the latest in a string of fines against VW over its years-long "dieselgate" scandal.

The auto behemoth admitted in 2015 to manipulating 11 million vehicles worldwide to appear less polluting in laboratory tests than they were in real driving conditions.

More than 90,000 Porsche vehicles in Australia were fitted with the devices issued to skew emissions results.

Investigations found that Porsche vehicles were emitting 40 times more nitrogen-oxides than allowed under US law.

Following fines against VW, high-end subsidiary Audi and now Porsche, no further investigations over "administrative offences" remain open against the group, a spokesman told AFP.

But legal proceedings against individuals, including former chief executive Martin Winterkorn, remain open.

Meanwhile, thousands of investors are suing the company for the losses they suffered on its shares when news of the scandal broke, while hundreds of thousands of drivers are also demanding compensation.

Porsche has been ordered to pay $130,000 in fines after causing an oil spill into the Yarra River.
Porsche cars on display during the Porsche Festival in Cannes, 2019. Source: AAP

In its own statement, Porsche said the negligence punished by prosecutors was identified "several levels below the board".

The firm also said that the cost of the fine was included in a provision of around one billion euros booked by the VW group in the first quarter.

So far the total costs of "dieselgate" for the Wolfsburg-based behemoth have mounted to 30 billion euros.

Shares in VW were down 2.2 percent around 2:00 pm in Frankfurt (1200 GMT) at 154.10 euros, against a DAX index of blue-chip shares down 0.7 percent.


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Source: AFP, SBS



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