An Australian federal court ordered Volkswagen Group to pay a record A$125 million ($86 million) fine for misleading car buyers about emissions. The penalty is the highest-ever under the country’s consumer law, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission said Friday.
VW said separately it will review the assessment, which exceeds an earlier settlement of A$75 million, and may appeal.
The scandal — which started four years ago when Volkswagen admitted to cheating on diesel-emissions tests — has already cost the automaker more than $30 billion.
The Australian decision, directed at the German company and not at its local unit, involves VW’s import of more than 57,000 vehicles between 2011 and 2015.
“Volkswagen’s conduct undermined the integrity and functioning of Australia’s vehicle-import regulations which are designed to protect consumers,” Rod Sims, ACCC’s chairman, said. “Volkswagen’s conduct was blatant and deliberate.”
Volkswagen faces a class-action lawsuit in the U.K. after 100,000 vehicle owners accused it of misleading them by installing emissions-cheating software.
Regulators in the Netherlands and Italy have already fined Volkswagen, while Germany penalized the automaker for 1 billion euros after a probe.