The German car manufacturer Volkswagen is one of the largest in the world, but they were rocked by a major scandal several years ago that went all the way to the top of the company. Its last fine came in July, for $1.2 billion, this most recent fine was for $926 million in regards to their subsidiary company Audi. The suits filed against the company allege that VW diesel engines and emissions mislead tests with software to make them seem cleaner and less harmful than they actually were. While the company has admitted to all wrongdoing, they are still having claims processed through the court system.
So far, the car company has paid $32.7 billion in fines since 2015 because of this scandal. This number makes up only 12 percent of the entire global sales for the company since last year. Volkswagen owns Audi, Porsche, and several others including Bentley and Lamborghini. Porsche is now the only subsidiary still ongoing trials for the scandal, which were all tightly linked by it. The fallout from the scandal has in many ways tarnished the brand names of Volkswagen and its affiliates, with a decline in sales of diesel cars, but the overall impact on the company may not have been as bad as it could have been.
