AG Slatery Announces Settlement with Auto Parts Maker

Robert Bosch LLC Accused of Harming Consumers and Undermining Regulations by Developing and Selling Unlawful “Defeat Devices”

Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III announced that Bosch will pay the State of Tennessee $2,291,760 in consumer and environmental civil penalties. The agreement also includes precedent-setting injunctive terms and requires Bosch to maintain robust processes to monitor compliance and to refuse to accommodate requests for software development and programming that could result in the installation of defeat device software.

“This settlement with Bosch recognizes the important role that suppliers play in ensuring regulatory and legal compliance in the automotive industry and establishes the important precedent that those who knowingly go along with their clients’ wrongful conduct will be held accountable,” said Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III.

When Volkswagen, a Bosch customer, was revealed to have systematically utilized defeat device software in its diesel vehicles, several states Attorneys General, including the Attorney General of Tennessee, commenced a separate investigation into the role played by Bosch.

As a result of this investigation, the Attorneys General concluded that Bosch facilitated the implementation of the defeat device software in more than 600,000 Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler vehicles over a period that spanned more than a decade and continued to assist these customers as they implemented the defeat devices and concealed their misconduct from regulators and the public.

Under the multistate agreement involving Tennessee and 49 other jurisdictions – including Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam and all states other than California, Texas and West Virginia – Bosch will pay a total of $98.7 million in civil penalties under the jurisdictions’ consumer protection and environmental laws. Under the related multidistrict litigation settlements, Bosch will also pay approximately $27.5 million to consumers who purchased or leased the affected Fiat Chrysler vehicles. Bosch earlier paid more than $275 million to consumers who purchased or leased the affected Volkswagen vehicles.

To view the consent order, click here: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/pr/2019/pr19-09-settlement.pdf