For colluding to curb the use of emissions cleaning technology developed by them, German carmakers Volkswagen and BMW were fined with a total amount of 875 million euros by the European Commission on Thursday, as per a report released by Moneycontrol.
By extending the application of European competition law to technical level talks between the industry players, a precedent was set by separate to the so-called ‘Dieselgate’ scandal over the software which was designed to cheat on vehicle emission tests.
Centered on design standards for AdBlue which is an addictive used clean nitrogen oxide from the exhaust gases which are produced by diesel-powered cars, talks were held a decade ago, in this case.
While BMW shall be paying an amount of 373 million euros, Volkswagen shall pay a fine of 502 million euros under a settlement. The technology to reduce harmful emissions more than required under EU law was possessed by the German carmakers which include VW units Audi and Porsche but had avoided competing to do as mentioned by European Union antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager in a news conference at Brussels.
To ensure its charges were stuck the original scope of its investigations was being narrowed down by the EU while Vestager mentioned that the decision is about how legitimate technical cooperation went wrong and when companies collude, it is not tolerated.