— Porsche emissions issues have caused the automaker another $598 million penalty (535 million euros) thrown down by German prosecutors for ignoring legal responsibilities related to diesel emissions.
It's another financial hit to the automaker for equipping certain vehicles with illegal V6 and V8 Audi diesel engines that contained emissions defeat devices.
About 4 million of the penalty is for "negligent breach of duty" after Stuttgart prosecutors alleged Porsche could have avoided everything if supervisors would have paid attention to what was going on.
The automaker says breaches of supervisory duties didn't occur by the executive board, but the same can't be said about lower departments related to product development.
Supervisors in charge of exhaust gas testing neglected their duties concerning the vehicles meeting emissions regulatory requirements. And German prosecutors claim supervisors had plenty of time to make corrections because the illegal engines were in use since 2009.
Considering Porsche has never manufactured diesel engines, the company saw no reason to roll the dice any longer and announced in 2018 that diesel engines would no longer be part of future Porsche models. The automaker says it will now focus on high-performance gasoline engines as well as electric and hybrid vehicles.
Porsche says it won't appeal the decision and is happy to put the matter in the rear-view mirror.
The $598 million penalty will join the $925 million Audi paid to Germany and the $1.2 billion paid by Volkswagen.
