Opel has been ordered to pay nearly € 65 million in fines in Germany for excessive pollution from certain diesel vehicles. No cheating software was detected, however.
In 2018, the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into Opel following a complaint by the German federal transport authority, the KBA. The manufacturer was accused of having sold between 2013 and 2015, therefore before being bought by PSA, diesel vehicles whose polluting emissions were much higher in real conditions of use than those recorded during the approval process. The blitz firm was forced to recall nearly 100,000 cars around the world. The procedure has just ended with the payment of a heavy fine.
No cheat software at Opel
The Rüsselsheim firm has agreed to pay a fine of 64.8 million euros, German investigators said. Opel points out that it has not been accused of installing emissions fraud software, unlike Volkswagen, which in 2015 was at the origin of Dieselgate, which led to this type of investigation on many manufacturers. In the case of the Wolfsburg giant, software detected by the behavior of vehicles homologation tests to make the pollution control systems work more than in normal conditions.
Opel less worried than others
By paying this fine, Opel sheltered itself from additional lawsuits that could have been brought by customers; procedures that Volkswagen is facing, at least in Germany. In France, several brands of the Stellantis group have been indicted for possible fraud with polluting emissions, but Opel is not currently one of them. The suspicions relate to cars sold between 2009 and 2015. In 2017, after investigation, the DGCCRF (repression of fraud) considered that Opel had not cheated. Volkswagen is also, of course, in the crosshairs of French justice, as is Renault. Investigations are ongoing.
TO READ. Dieselgate. Europe asks VW to compensate all its customers
Source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur
