Rupert Stadler is the first ex-Audi and Volkswagen Group board member to be sentenced and fined due to his involvement in the 2015 dieselgate emissions scandal.

Stadler was sentenced by a Munich court to a suspended sentence of one year and nine months, as well as €1.1 million (£940,000) for fraud by negligence.

He has been on trial since 2020 and made a confession on his role in the diesel scandal last month, with Stadler’s lawyer stating that while he did not know vehicles had been manipulated, he did recognise it was a possibility and accepted there was need for more care.

Stadler had previously rejected any allegations of involvement or visibility of the dieselgate scandal.

The judge handed out a lesser sentence due to the confession.