Dieselgate costs Mitsubishi 25 million euro penalty in Germany

Japanese auto manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors had paid a penalty of 25 million euros earlier this year, confirmed the automaker on Monday. The company was fined by German prosecutors over diesel emission fraud alleagtions.

The German authorities raided 10 sites in 2020 to probe into suspected diesel emission cheating Mitsubishi vehicles. The company was issued a fine notice of 25 million euros by the German prosecutors in late March 2021 in relation to the diesel emission cheating scandal.

However, the company claimed that the probe didn't found any evidence of willful violations or fraudulent behaviour. With the fine paid by Mitsubishi, the investigation was ended, reports AFP.

The Mitsubishi diesel vehicles with 1.6-litre and 2.2-litre engines with Euro 5 and Euro 6 ratings were accused of cheating the diesel emission tests. These vehicles were claimed to had a shutdown device attached to the engines that is capable of detecting the lab environment and emit fewer pollutants than the real world emission level.

Mitsubishi was not the only automaker that came under scanner due to diesel emission cheating. The series of accusations against automakers came to light in 2015 when Volkswagen Group was found cheating emission tests.

Brands like Volkswagen Audi and Porsche were found selling vehicles with emission cheating software onboard. Around 11 million vehicles across the world were affected by the Volkswagen dieselgate scandal. The German automaker was sued in several countries around the world because of this scandal. The dieselgate prompted the VW to accelerate the pace of electrification.

After Volkswagen Group, several other automakers too were accused of such emission cheating cases.