dieselgate

Volkswagen and a Canadian judge have agreed to a C$196.5 million ($218.5 million) fine after the automaker pled guilty to 60 counts of illegally importing into the country diesel cars that secretly exceeded limits placed on oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions. As part of its guilty plea, Volkswagen admitted it had imported 128,000 Volkswagen and Audi cars, and around 2000 Porsche vehicles, which breached pollution standards.

Markus Duesmann will begin his tenure as Audi CEO on April 1, 2020, where has been tasked with the car maker's "accelerated transformation into a provider of sustainable mobility and the determined decarbonisation of the company". Audi, like other brands within the Volkswagen family, is in the midst of adding plug-in hybrid variants to its existing range, as well as adding new pure electric models.

Daimler, parent company of Mercedes-Benz, has been fined €870 million ($1.4 billion) by German authorities for selling vehicles which did not fully comply with regulations regarding oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions. It's understood roughly 684,000 diesel vehicles sold in Germany were not compliant with emissions regulations.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) will compensate American owners of Jeep and Ram cars fitted with emissions-cheating EcoDiesel engines. Owners of 2014-16 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel and Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel models will have updated emissions control software fitted, be given an extended warranty for their cars, and offered US$3075 ($4400) in compensation. Second-hand owners will be eligible for a US$2460 ($3500) payment, while lessees, former lessees and former owners will get US$990 ($1410).

A US federal grand jury last week indicted four senior managers — Richard Bauder, Axel Eiser, Stefan Knirsch and Carsten Nagel — for their role in developing and covering up the emissions testing defeat device fitted to the Audi-designed 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 engine. All four held senior management positions at Audi's diesel design centres in Neckarsulm and Ingolstadt, Germany. All four are believed to still reside in Germany.