PARIS: German automaker Volkswagen said Wednesday that it has been charged in France over alleged cheating on emissions testing, as its former CEO was accused in Berlin of making false statements over the “dieselgate” scandal.
In a statement a day after French rival Renault announced it had also been charged in the inquiry, VW denied causing any “harm” to French consumers.
A source close to the investigation said it had been charged last month with “deceit over substantial qualities of a product, resulting in a danger for human and animal health.” A court has ordered it to post 10 million euros ($12.2 million) in bail as well as a bank guarantee of 60 million euros — the same required of Renault — to cover potential compensation payouts, the source said.
The scandal erupted in 2015 when a US investigation revealed that VW had equipped around 11 million vehicles with devices capable of producing fake carbon dioxide emission readings during tests, even though actual emissions could be up to 40 times higher.
The company later admitted to the trickery, dealing a massive blow to its reputation for solid engineering and well-built, high-performance vehicles.
Fines, legal fees and vehicle refits and recalls have already cost the company some 32 billion euros.
France’s Peugeot, now part of the Stellantis group following its merger with Fiat Chrysler, is also under investigation over suspected emissions cheating.
The French inquiry was delayed while authorities waited for a definitive ruling on the illegality of using the test-manipulating technologies from the European Court of Justice, which handed down its decision in April 2020. French fraud investigators determined that VW sold nearly 950,000 diesels with the masking devices in France, generating sales of nearly 23 billion euros.
Consumer groups have assailed VW and other implicated automakers for selling cars that performed much worse in terms of emissions than they were led to believe.
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