The German newspaper Bild has reported that Volkswagen Group’s Porsche brand is now seeking €200 million (~$235 million) in damages from its stablemate Audi over its involvement in the use of illegal defeat devices in diesel vehicles.
The idea behind Porsche’s argument is pretty simple: the company has been damaged as a result of its association with Audi, through Audi’s illegal activities and the accompanying bad PR.
Bild reported that Porsche’s management hand-delivered the claim in written form to their counterparts at Audi — though no sources were cited by the German newspaper backing that claim.
“Audi admitted in November 2015 that its 3.0 liter V6 diesel engines used in about 80,000 VW, Audi and Porsche models were fitted with an auxiliary device deemed illegal in the United States. The German government earlier this year ordered a recall of Porsche’s Cayenne sport-utility vehicle (SUV) and prohibited registrations of the model’s diesel version,” Reuters notes.
“Porsche wants compensation from Audi for the costs of the retrofits, legal counseling and customer measures, Bild said. A spokesman for Porsche said VW group-internal issues were not meant for public discussion, without elaborating. Audi declined comment and referred inquiries to Porsche.”
It’s unclear whether any more information relating to Porsche’s request for damages will be released to the public, but we’ll keep you posted if it does.
In related news, prosecutors in Munich recently arrested a second suspect in relation to their probe of illegal activities at Audi relating to the scandal. For more information on that, see: Prosecutors In Munich (Germany) Arrest 2nd Audi Emissions Scandal Suspect.
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