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Although Volkswagen Group has paid a heavy price for the "diesel emission door" incident, eight years later, the Volkswagen "diesel door" incident has not completely subsided.

According to foreign media reports on March 15, the French Court of Appeal in Paris recently rejected Volkswagen Group's request to withdraw allegations of fraud in the investigation into the "diesel door" incident. Volkswagen believes that the company cannot be repeatedly charged in the same case because it was fined 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in Germany in the same case in 2018. however, this claim was rejected by the French Ministry of Justice in January 2022.

Volkswagen Group directly abandoned the appeal after Germany issued a "fine of 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion)" after Volkswagen Group was charged with serious fraud in the "diesel door" incident in May 2021. "Volkswagen accepts the fine and admits responsibility for the diesel valve emissions scandal," he said. " However, with regard to the latest ruling of the Paris court, Volkswagen said it would continue to appeal the court's decision. So far, neither Volkswagen France nor the Paris Court of Appeal responded to requests for comment.

It should be noted that the Volkswagen diesel gate incident is a global incident. In addition to Germany and France, Volkswagen faces fines and investigations in 19 other countries, including the United States, Canada, India, Brazil and Australia.

According to the concern of the automobile industry, the "diesel door" incident of the German Volkswagen Group refers to the illegal act of Volkswagen using "cheating software" to make diesel vehicle emissions "meet" European Union emission standards. the incident was exposed in September 2015 and once triggered the biggest business crisis and brand trust crisis in Volkswagen history.

In September 2015, Volkswagen was accused by the US Environmental Protection Agency that some of the diesel vehicles sold by the company were equipped with software designed to deal with emissions testing, which could identify whether the car was being tested and then secretly started during the vehicle test. as a result, cars can pass with "high environmental standards" during vehicle inspection, while these cars emit large amounts of pollutants during normal driving, up to 40 times the legal standards of the United States. In the same year, Volkswagen admitted to using illegal software to manipulate diesel engine test results in the United States. Subsequently, the "emission gate" scandal broke out around the world, causing it to attract lawsuits in several countries, eventually costing Volkswagen more than 32 billion euros in fines, recalls and legal fees, and the scandal also had a serious impact on the company's reputation. as a result, a number of high-level employees resigned.

According to data released by Volkswagen, the number of Volkswagen diesel vehicles involved in illegal emissions worldwide is as high as 11 million, including 5 million Volkswagen brands, 2.1 million Audi, 1.2 million Skoda, 700000 Seattle and 1.8 million Volkswagen light commercial vehicles, all of which are equipped with EA189 diesel engines made by Volkswagen. Among the segmented countries, the German market accounts for about 2.8 million vehicles, the United States market accounts for about 482000 vehicles, and the Swiss market accounts for about 180000 vehicles. Under the Clean Air Act, each car that violates emissions can be fined up to $37500, while Volkswagen involves 482000 vehicles in the United States, meaning the total penalty can be up to $18 billion.

On June 13, 2018, prosecutors in Brunswick, Germany imposed a fine of 1 billion euros on Volkswagen for the "exhaust valve" incident triggered by Volkswagen. Brunswick prosecutors' investigation results show that from mid-2007 to 2015, Volkswagen launched 10.7 million vehicles with EA288 (Gen3) diesel engines in the United States and Canada and EA189 diesel engines in the global market, involving a total of 10.7 million vehicles. Regarding this investigation result, the Volkswagen Group expressed the punishment on the same day, and assumed the corresponding responsibility. As of December 11, 2019, the economic cost to Volkswagen as a result of the diesel valve scandal was as high as 30 billion euros. On April 6, 2020, the British High Court ruled that the German Volkswagen Group had violated the law by using "cheating software" to make diesel vehicle emissions "meet" European Union emission standards.

After the outbreak of the Volkswagen "diesel door" incident, a new test by the German Association of Automobile drivers (Adac) shows that diesel vehicles from more automakers, such as Renault, Nissan, Hyundai, Citroen, Fiat, Volvo, Ford, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Peugeot, also have excessive emissions. Among them, Mercedes-Benz South Korea was fined 77.6 billion won by South Korean regulators for artificially tampering with diesel vehicle emission data. In June 2021, Peugeot, Citroen and other companies owned by the Stellantis Group are under investigation by the French government for allegedly fraudulent consumers over the emissions of some diesel models. On the same day, Renault Group was also investigated by French prosecutors for diesel emissions, but it denied any violations. In February 2022, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) issued a new fine on Mercedes-Benz's South Korean subsidiary and its German parent company, alleging that Mercedes-Benz still used false and deceptive advertisements to mislead consumers after the diesel fuel incident. On February 9, 2023, the Korean Fair Trade Commission issued a notice that Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen and Audi colluded to manipulate diesel vehicle emissions. It decided to impose a total penalty of 42.3 billion won (227 million yuan) on the above four German automakers.

According to incomplete statistics, Volkswagen Group has compensated the United States, Germany and Canada a total of 114.4 billion yuan after the outbreak of Volkswagen "diesel gate", and this French court rejected Volkswagen's request to withdraw the charge of "diesel door". It may mean that the Volkswagen Group will continue to face the price of a "fine".

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