The European Commission (EC) fined carmakers Volkswagen (VW) and BMW around € 875 million on Thursday for antitrust breaches of anti-pollution technology in diesel cars.
Volkswagen will have to pay about 500 million euros, and BMW – about 375 million euros.
The automaker Daimler is also involved in the case, but will not have to pay a fine, because Daimler reported violations to the EC in 2017, after which an investigation was launched.
It found that car manufacturers had illegally agreed to limit the effectiveness of AdBlue, a liquid cleaning agent, so that it did not remove emissions of nitrogen oxides beyond what was required by European Union (EU) regulations.
“Today’s case is about how legal cooperation has gone wrong. The carmakers had developed very good technology, but decided not to compete to its full potential,” EU Competition Commissioner Margrette Vestagere told reporters.
Volkswagen’s Audi and Porsche divisions are also involved in the infringements.
This case is not related to the so-called diesel scandal. In September 2015, Volkswagen acknowledged that up to 11 million of its cars in the world are equipped with specific types of diesel engines, which are equipped with software for falsifying harmful emission indicators.
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