FRANKFURT -- German prosecutors are looking into a possible fine for Robert Bosch for providing Volkswagen Group with engine management software that the automaker used to cheat vehicle emissions tests in 2015.
Volkswagen has paid out more than 27 billion euros ($31 billion) in penalties for using illegal software to disguise excessive levels of pollution from its diesel cars, triggering a global regulatory clampdown that has now reached Bosch.
In the U.S., VW and Bosch last month agreed to pay at least $1.6 billion to fix or buy back and compensate owners of VW, Audi and Porsche cars diesel engines rigged to cheat pollution tests.
Prosecutors in Bosch's home city of Stuttgart, Germany, have opened monetary fine proceedings against the supplier, Bosch said in a statement on Friday.
"The proceedings relate to the investigations against employees of Robert Bosch GmbH in connection with the use of allegedly manipulated software in control units of diesel vehicles," Bosch said.
German prosecutors last year fined Volkswagen 1 billion euros and its sister brand Audi 800 million euros for management oversight lapses which allowed polluting cars to hit the road.
German weekly magazine Der Spiegel reported on Friday that Volkswagen was reviewing whether to seek damages of up to 1 billion euros from Bosch. Volkswagen declined to comment on the report.
Bosch said: "Relationships with customers are kept confidential. The automaker-supplier relationship between Bosch and Volkswagen goes back over decades. We cannot imagine such an action against Bosch."
