On Wednesday, German prosecutors said they had imposed a fine of 1 billion euros, or $1.2 billion, on Volkswagen for failing to properly supervise the employees who devised and deployed illegal software in diesel models to evade pollution controls.
Although the vast majority of the vehicles at issue are in Europe, the financial penalties were much stiffer in the United States because of the country’s stricter enforcement regimen and a legal system that is more favorable to consumers.
“We are working intensively to deal with our past,” Herbert Diess, Volkswagen’s chief executive said in a statement on Wednesday. “Further steps are necessary to restore trust in our company and the auto industry piece by piece.”
Read the article at The New York Times.