Volkswagen Fined Nearly $150 Million for Emissions Cheating in Canada

(Photo Credit: Gerry Lauzon, Flickr Creative Commons)

Volkswagen AG pleaded guilty to violating federal diesel emissions standards in Canada and was ordered to pay CAD 196.5 million ($149.7 million) in fines. Environment and Climate Change Canada officials called the amount unprecedented.

The German automaker imported nearly 128,000 two- and three-liter diesel engine Volkswagen and Audi vehicles that had “defeat devices” — software that enables cheating on emissions controls — between January 2008 and December 2015, an investigation by Environment and Climate Change Canada found.

“By entering guilty pleas, the company has admitted wrongdoing and accepted full responsibility without the need for a potentially lengthy trial,” said Tom Lemon, a prosecutor with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. He added that the fine is 26 times greater than the highest federal environmental fine ever imposed in the country.

Last week, Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK), announced that it is fining Volkswagen 120 million zlotys ($31.4 million) for disseminating false information about emissions, Reuters reported. The office said that proceedings against the automaker are entering their final stage.

Mitsubishi and Denso Investigated

Volkswagen isn’t the only automotive company being scrutinized over emissions. Bloomberg reported that Mitsubishi and the automotive components manufacturer Denso recently had their German operations raided by investigators.

“There’s suspicion that the engines were equipped with a defeat device set up to meet emissions limits during testing but not in real driving conditions,” Nadja Niesen, a spokeswoman for Frankfurt prosecutors, told Bloomberg via email. “The use of such a device is prohibited under EU law.”

Both companies indicated that they are cooperating with German authorities. An analyst for Bloomberg estimated that a recall, if one occurs, could involve 400,000 vehicles and cost as much as $364 million, including legal fees.