Germany fines Bosch over 'dieselgate' role
German prosecutors said Thursday they had fined car parts supplier Bosch 90 million euros ($100 million) over its role supplying components in the "dieselgate" emissions cheating scandal.
In a statement, Stuttgart investigators said they had "levied a fine against Bosch for negligently infringing its quality control obligations."
The investigators added that the German company, the world's biggest auto parts maker, had agreed not to contest the fine.
The 90 million-euro sum is made up of a penalty of two million, while the remaining 88 million covers the estimated economic benefit Bosch gained from the crimes.
Beginning in 2008, Bosch "delivered around 17 million motor control and mixture control devices to various domestic and foreign manufacturers, some of whose software contained illegal strategies," the prosecutors found.
"Cars fitted with the devices emitted more nitrogen oxides than allowed under regulations."
Volkswagen admitted in 2015 to fitting 11 million cars worldwide with such technology.
The fallout has so far cost the German car behemoth more than 30 billion euros.
Further legal proceedings are outstanding against both VW and former executives as individuals.
In its own statement, Bosch said it "will continue to expand its compliance organisation continuously in order to minimise the risk of violations of applicable law".
The firm promises "product development that is focused on the protection of human health and the environment".
It added that it had also retrained one-in-four of its workforce, or 100,000 workers, most of them in research and development, in a new code of conduct.
For Bosch, the fine closes legal proceedings against the company over dieselgate.
While prosecutors are still probing whether employees were involved in criminal actions, authorities believe "the initiative for the integration and form of the illegal strategies both came from employees at the car manufacturers" rather than suppliers like Bosch.
© 2019 AFP
