Dieselgate: EX-Audi Boss Gets Suspended Sentence and $1.2 Million Fine

The ex-Audi boss has been on trial since 2020 on allegations that he did nothing to stop the sale of automobiles rigged to cheat emissions tests after the scandal had come to light in 2015. Initially, Stadler had denied any wrongdoing.

However, after two and half years into the long-running trial, he and two other defendants, last month, were offered a plea deal in return for their confessions.

Under the plea deal, the former boss accepted that he had allowed Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche vehicles rigged with manipulating emissions software to remain on sale even after the scandal had blown up.

His lawyer, Ulrike Thole-Groll, speaking on his behalf, said that while Stadler had no clue that the automobiles had been manipulated, consequently harming buyers, he acknowledged there was a possibility and accepted that he should have taken precautions.

The court said that Stadler was fined €1.1 million ($1.20 million) that’ll be channeled to the German state treasury and non-governmental organizations. He is currently the highest-ranking VW executive found guilty of cheating on emissions tests.

Initially, the prosecutors had wanted a €2 million ($2.19 million) fine sighting his salaries at Audi and VW and his real estate assets.

The Munich regional court also handed the former boss a suspended prison sentence of 21 months. Wolfgang Hatz, a former head of engine development and former Audi engineer, only known as Giovanni P. (for privacy reasons), also received suspended prison sentences and fines from the same court. Giovanni P. got a year and nine months plus a €50,000 ($54,765) fine, and Hatz – a two-year suspended sentence and a €400,000 ($438,116) fine.

The duo was accused of ensuring diesel models from the German automaker met their limits during emissions testing but not on the road. It is believed that prosecutors had objected to Hatz’s plea deal, and Tuesday’s verdicts will likely be appealed.

Stadler’s case is the most prominent in the aftermath of the Dieselgate scandal, when VW admitted to using software to dupe emissions tests.

His boss, former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn, has also been charged by both United States and German authorities. However, Germany doesn’t extradite its citizens to countries outside the European Union. Winterkorn was also supposed to stand trial, but his case has been postponed indefinitely due to his poor health. Reuters reported.