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VW, BMW Fined $1 Billion by the European Union for Starting an Emissions Cartel

In a move unrelated to the ‘Dieselgate’ scandal, German carmakers Volkswagen and BMW were fined a total of €875 million ($1 billion) this week for colluding to curb the use of emissions cleaning technology in diesel engines.
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This issue goes back a full decade, when carmakers were discussing design standards for AdBlue, the additive used to cleanse nitrogen oxide from the exhaust gases produced by diesel engines, reports Reuters. According to EU antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, BMW and VW (including Audi and Porsche), had possessed the technology to reduce harmful emissions yet avoided competing to do so.

“This is a first,” said Vestager. “We have never had a cartel whose purpose was to restrict the use of novel technology.”

Ultimately, the carmakers decided to settle, with Volkswagen set to pay a fine of 502 million euros and BMW 373 million euros. Daimler, it seems, was also part of the cartel, but was not fined after revealing its existence.

Vestager also stated that all the carmakers involved had acknowledged their role in this so-called cartel, although VW is still considering whether to take further legal action, arguing that a penalty over technical talks about emissions technology would set a questionable precedent.

“The Commission is entering new judicial territory, because it is treating technical cooperation for the first time as an antitrust violation,” said VW.

Meanwhile, in its charge sheet from 2019, the EU said that German carmakers had colluded to restrict the size of AdBlue tanks between 2006 and 2014, resulting in the additive becoming much less convenient to use.

In a follow-up to this settlement, BMW felt the need to point out that it’s been cleared of suspicion regarding the use of illegal defeat devices meant to cheat emissions tests, and that unlike some of its competitors, the BMW Group has never considered reduced, illegal emissions control.
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About the author: Sergiu Tudose
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Sergiu got to experience both American and European car "scenes" at an early age (his father drove a Ford Fiesta XR2 supermini in the 80s). After spending over 15 years at local and international auto publications, he's starting to appreciate comfort behind the wheel more than raw power and acceleration.
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