FRANKFURT AM MAIN: German prosecutors said Monday they had fined high-end carmaker BMW €8.5 million ($9.6 million) over diesel cars with higher harmful emissions than allowed, while adding the infraction was down to error rather than deliberate fraud.
“Munich prosecutors have ordered a fine of €8.5 million for the administrative offense of negligence in quality control,” investigators said in a statement.
Authorities had been probing BMW since early 2018 over suspicions it could have built a so-called “defeat device” into some diesel cars.
Such technologies allow the vehicle to reduce emissions under test conditions, while emitting far higher levels of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) on the road.
In Germany, Volkswagen has paid one billion euros in fines over defeat devices following its 2015 admission that it installed them in 11 million cars worldwide, while high-end subsidiary Audi has paid €800 million.
And last week, prosecutors in Stuttgart said they had opened a “fine proceeding” against Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler over the same suspicions relating to 700,000 cars.
But the number of vehicles showing irregularities in BMW’s case is far smaller, at just under 8,000.
Prosecutors said that they believed “mistaken labelling of the part of the motor control software responsible for exhaust treatment” was behind increased on-road emissions.
“Extensive investigations” had found neither evidence of a purposely designed defeat device, nor of intent to commit fraud by BMW employees, they added.
Rather, “the company had not set up an appropriate quality control system” that could have prevented the error or revealed it after the fact, the prosecutors found.
In its most recent financial data release, BMW said it made a net profit of €1.4 billion between July and September, down 24 percent year-on-year as it contended with tough new emissions tests in the European Union.
Germany fines BMW $9.6 million over diesel emissions
Germany fines BMW $9.6 million over diesel emissions
- Authorities had been probing BMW since early 2018 over suspicions it could have built a so-called ‘defeat device’ into some diesel cars
- The number of vehicles showing irregularities in BMW’s case is far smaller, at just under 8,000
Closing Bell: Saudi Arabia’s main index closes in red at 10,364
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index closed lower on Sunday, shedding 185.05 points, or 1.75 percent, to end the session at 10,364.03.
Total trading turnover on the benchmark index stood at SR2.55 billion ($680 million), with 20 stocks advancing and 237 declining.
The Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu also retreated, falling 0.63 percent, or 147.19 points, to close at 23,371.82.
The MSCI Tadawul Index slipped 1.71 percent to 1,369.56.
Saudi Industrial Export Co. was the top gainer on the main market, with its share price jumping 9.87 percent to SR2.56.
Shares of Naqi Water Co. rose 2.53 percent to SR58.80, while Shatirah House Restaurant Co. advanced 2.18 percent to SR9.39.
On the downside, Gulf Union Alahlia Cooperative Insurance Co. posted the steepest decline, with its share price falling 4.61 percent to SR10.14.
On the announcements front, Scientific & Medical Equipment House Co. said it had been awarded a contract valued at SR260.98 million by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development to supply uncooked food materials and catering items to beneficiaries at the ministry’s residential branches across the Kingdom.
The project scope also includes providing cooked meals to selected anti-begging offices over a 24-month period, according to a Tadawul statement. The company added that the financial impact of the contract will begin in the fourth quarter of this year.
It said further developments would be disclosed in due course after all relevant parties sign the final contract and a copy is received.
Shares of Scientific & Medical Equipment House Co. edged up 0.31 percent to SR32.44.
Separately, Dr. Soliman Abdel Kader Fakeeh Hospital Co. and its subsidiaries signed an agreement with Oloof Development Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Jazan Municipality, to lease a strategic land plot in Jazan City for SR217.99 million.
According to a Tadawul statement, the land, which spans 34,581 sq. meters, will be used to develop an integrated healthcare facility under a 50-year lease.
The company said the financial impact of the agreement is expected to begin once the medical facility is completed and becomes operational.
Shares of Dr. Soliman Abdel Kader Fakeeh Hospital Co. fell 1.92 percent to SR33.74.
