Hyundai fined with €58.5. million for installing illegal defeat devices
In Germany, Hyundai Motor Group branches have been fined €58.5 million by Frankfurt prosecutors for using 'defeat devices' in 90,000 diesel cars, allowing them to pass emissions tests by appearing cleaner than they actually were. The devices, which have come under scrutiny in the wake of the Dieselgate scandal, allow cars to produce less nitrogen oxide during tests than in real-world conditions. The fines, issued in April 2023, were only made public after the investigative platform Follow the Money made enquiries, revealing a lack of proactive public communication by German authorities and Hyundai regarding emissions violations.
Despite the penalties in Germany, European coordination on the case has been limited. Both the Netherlands and Sweden, which originally approved these Hyundai vehicles for the EU market, have yet to be informed of the German fines. This delay is worrying as the EU's post-Dieselgate reforms have emphasised cross-border cooperation to avoid fragmented oversight and ensure better accountability among carmakers. The German authorities have not yet released vehicle models or specific approval dates, leaving the Dutch and Swedish regulators to rely on the original German prosecution to initiate a recall.
Although defeat devices were confirmed in Hyundai cars, German prosecutors stopped short of finding intentional fraud. Instead, they attributed the company's actions to negligence and imposed a fine, which Hyundai has paid. However, this was not acknowledged in Hyundai's public half-year financial report. The legal ambiguity over wilful misconduct leaves the fate of the vehicles - potentially high in nitrogen oxide emissions - uncertain, with no official moves by German or other EU authorities to remove them from the roads.
The complex EU regulatory framework has created a difficult situation: under current rules, vehicles only need to be approved in one EU country to be sold throughout the bloc, placing primary responsibility for any compliance measures on the approval countries (in this case, the Netherlands and Sweden). Despite multiple fines from Frankfurt prosecutors, Follow the Money has found that neither the Netherlands nor Sweden have been informed by German regulators, and regulators in both countries claim they have received no information about the fined vehicles, leaving it unclear which specific models may require recalls.
A possible lack of urgency on the part of the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) further complicates matters. Although they are expected to inform their EU counterparts of the findings, the KBA cited an "ongoing administrative procedure" as the reason for not sharing information. This situation highlights the regulatory challenges within the EU vehicle approval process, particularly when national authorities handle emissions-related offences with different timelines and priorities.
Given the history of Dieselgate, this case raises broader questions about the EU’s capacity to enforce emissions standards uniformly across borders. Environmental groups argue that inter-country “finger-pointing” and slow regulatory responses undermine the credibility of emissions standards and compromise efforts to reduce pollution effectively. As the Hyundai case progresses, environmental advocates are calling for stricter rules and more unified actions among EU agencies to prevent similar lapses, suggesting that long-term reforms may be needed to address inconsistencies in regulatory responsibilities and to prioritize swift, coordinated responses to environmental violations.