By William Boston 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (October 17, 2018).

BERLIN -- German luxury car brand Audi on Tuesday said it has agreed to pay a fine of EUR800 million ($927 million) to settle a German fraud investigation related to the sale of cars with six- and eight-cylinder diesel engines that contained illegal software to manipulate emissions.

The settlement removes another uncertain financial risk for Audi's parent, Volkswagen AG, which has shouldered fines, penalties and compensation payments of more than $27 billion after admitting in 2015 it rigged nearly 11 million diesel vehicles to cheat emissions tests.

Earlier this year, Volkswagen settled a similar case in Braunschweig, near its headquarters, and agreed to pay a EUR1 billion fine. The only outstanding fraud case in stemming from the diesel emissions scandal is still ongoing in Stuttgart, where state prosecutors are investigating the role Volkswagen's sports car brand Porsche played in the diesel affair.

Audi issued a profit warning, saying the fine would force the car maker to "significantly undercut major financial key performance indicators forecasted for the fiscal year 2018."

A Volkswagen spokesman said the company would book the charge in its third quarter results and that there would be no impact on Volkswagen earnings. The company didn't intend to change its earnings outlook for the full year.

While the move settles one of the most significant pending cases against Volkswagen and its subsidiaries, it doesn't affect a number of criminal investigations of current and former employees of the company.

Earlier this month, Volkswagen sacked the former chief executive of Audi, who has been in preventive detention in Munich since June. He was arrested when investigators found evidence that allegedly showed he was trying to tamper with witnesses and impede the investigation.

Investors welcomed the news of the Audi settlement. Volkswagen's shares were trading at EUR147.76, up 2.3%, in early afternoon on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Porsche Automobil Holding SE, the listed investment vehicle that holds the Volkswagen shares of the Porsche and Piech families, the heirs to Volkswagen Beetle designer Ferdinand Porsche, issued a profit warning in the wake of the Audi announcement.

The holding's shares tend to track Volkswagen shares. The holding carries no liability for the operations of Volkswagen and its subsidiaries. It wasn't immediately apparent how the holding would be affected by the Audi fine.

Write to William Boston at william.boston@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 17, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)