Ottawa, Ontario — Volkswagen must pay Canada close to $200 million after the automaker pleaded guilty to 60 charges related to its efforts to subvert vehicle emissions tests.
According to a Crown-approved statement from the German automaker, the company brought 130,000 Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche vehicles into the country which violated emissions standard by using software designed to reduce emissions during testing scenarios.
The judgment is, by far, the highest environment-related fine ever issued in Canada. Had the company fought the charges, it could have faced $265 million in fines.
In the U.S., the result of a similar action brought by the Environmental Protection Agency ended in a us$2.7 billion ($3.6 billion) fine.
VW has also had to make restitution to the drivers of its vehicles in North America.
In late 2016, VW reached an agreement with Canada’s government to repay owners of affected vehicles between $5,100 and $8,000 for their cars. The deal was a similar one the automaker made with the U.S. Government earlier in the year, where drivers were given a buyback or free fix option.
Revelations about discrepancies between VW’s true emissions and test results began to emerge in 2014 at an academic conference.
In 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered repeat tests of Volkswagen vehicles, and VW issued a recall.
The next year, VW admitted the vehicles had been programmed to reduce their emissions during testing situations.
The automaker issued an apology for deceptive practices in September 2015. VW stock, which traded at €167.95 on September 11, dipped to €92.35 by October 2, 2015.
The amounts paid in the US vary from US$5,100 to US$9,852 U.S. ($6,800 to $13,000).
It also faces legal costs from other governments around the world. Last month, Australia fined VW AU$125 million ($112 million) .
The Norwegian Government’s sovereign wealth fund, a major investor in VW, is suing the automaker as part of a class-action lawsuit.
Brazil ordered the automaker to pay the equivalent of $450 million in compensation to drivers of vehicles equipped with emissions test-defeating software.
The South Korean Ministry of the Environment fined the automaker $1.58 billion.
While the fines are far more than a nuisance, their impact on VW investors—and the 300,000 employees—is unlikely to be crippling. The company’s net equity sits around $170 billion, with annual profits around $17 billion.
