Bosch slapped on the wrist over Dieselgate

The automotive supplier at the heart of the global Dieselgate scandal has been fined just €90 million by a German court.

Robert Bosch, which provided the engine management computers that contained the emissions-cheating software that enabled the scandal, wasn’t fined for fraud or manipulation, but lapses in supervisory duties, German prosecutors said yesterday.

The result is an effective slap on the wrist for a trust-owned company that delivered more than 17 million ECUs with the illegal software (its rival, Continental, was also involved).

The findings, which won’t be contested by Bosch, is effectively the court telling the world that the carmakers like Volkswagen, Audi and Daimler were responsible for the cheat, not Bosch.

It’s even worse than that, though, because Bosch was fined just €2 million for a regulatory offence and €88 million as a penalty for the economic benefit it gained by being involved.

"With the issue of the notice of fine, the investigations conducted by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Stuttgart against Bosch as a supplier of engine control units for diesel engines has been completed," Bosch said in a statement.

The fine for Bosch is in start contrast with the nearly €30 billion already paid out by the Volkswagen Group, though it does not take into account potential penalties for Bosch in the US.

It’s not as clear-cut as Bosch claims, though, because individual Bosch employees are still being investigated by the Stuttgart prosecutors’ office, with Bosch providing the illegal software to the Volkswagen Group.

Bosch is the subject of similar investigations relating to General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.