[ad_1]
The former head of the luxury division of Volkswagen Audi pleaded guilty on Monday to charges linked to the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal, becoming the highest executive convicted for a car that cheated on emissions tests with the help of illegal software.
Rupert Stadler answered “yes” to a statement read in court by his lawyer who said that Stadler admitted guilt and regret for failing to keep stolen cars off the market despite the scandal becoming public knowledge, dpa news agency reported.
Stadler entered the plea under an agreement with the judge and prosecutors that gave him probation instead of jail time and ordered him to pay a fine of 1.1 million euros ($1.6 million Cdn) in return for pleading guilty. Three lesser managers have also received approval in the 2½-year trial in Munich.
Stadler was charged with fraud and false certification by prosecutors who allegedly ordered cars with the fraudulent software to be sold after September 2015. At that time, the US Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice of violation under the Clean Air Act after discovering the fraudulent software.
The software turns on emissions control when the car is on the test stands and turns it off when the car is on the road.
The cars will pass inspection but are exposed to several times the permitted level of nitrogen oxides, a pollutant that can harm human health.
The VW CEO has yet to face trial
The scandal cost Volkswagen more than $30 billion in fines and settlements and saw two US executives sent to prison.
This is pushing the entire auto industry away from reliance on diesel engines, which already account for nearly half of the car market in Europe, and helping accelerate the push toward electric vehicles.
Volkswagen has since become one of the largest battery-only car manufacturers in the world.
Former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn, who resigned after the 2015 EPA announcement, has been charged by American and German authorities, but Germany does not usually extradite a citizen to a country outside the European Union. The German proceedings against him were also halted because he was unwell.
[ad_2]
Source link