BERLIN, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Munich district attorney's office on Monday imposed a fine of 8.5 million euros (9.7 million U.S. dollars) on the German premium car manufacturer BMW for violations of supervisory duties.
The district attorney's office accused BMW of not having established "suitable quality assurance systems" to prevent the implementation of flawed engine management software in engine control units. This would have led to 7,965 vehicles emitting higher nitrogen oxides levels, the prosecutor stated.
A BMW spokesperson said that BMW had accepted the fine. The ruling and the associated fine are therefore legally binding.
So-called shut-down devices manipulate the exhaust emissions of cars to produce different emission levels in a testing facility. Several German car manufacturers are currently facing investigations and high penalties for such illegal exhaust manipulations. (1 euro = 1.14 U.S. dollars)
