BERLIN — Volkswagen Group faces a wonderful of greater than 100 million euros ($121 million) for lacking its 2020 European Union goal for CO2 emissions.

VW Group – together with the VW, Audi, Porsche, and Skoda manufacturers – reduce common CO2 emissions in its new automobiles offered within the EU final yr by about 20 p.c to 99.8 grams per km, however that was round 0.5 g/km above its goal, VW mentioned in a statement on Thursday.

That implied EU fines amounting to a “very low triple-digit million quantity,” a VW spokesman mentioned.

“We narrowly missed the fleet goal for 2020, thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” CEO Herbert Diess mentioned within the assertion

Diess mentioned he hoped to fulfill the goal this yr as the corporate’s most important manufacturers deliver out new electrical fashions.

VW Group’s core VW model and Audi met their targets, largely as a result of launches of the VW ID3 and Audi e-tron electrical fashions. VW didn’t point out whether or not its Porsche, Seat and Skoda manufacturers met their emissions objectives. It mentioned the emissions of Bentley and Lamborghini are measured individually and should not included within the group determine of 99.8 g/km.

VW is lowering the combustion-engine automobiles it affords and retooling extra factories to construct electrical automobiles in an effort to maintain up with electric-car maker Tesla.

It has mentioned the EU’s extra stringent emissions targets will power it to spice up the proportion of hybrid and electrical automobiles in its European automotive gross sales to 60 p.c by 2030, up from a earlier goal of 40 p.c.

VW can also be pooling its CO2 emissions with electrical automakers MG Motor, Aiways, LEVC and Subsequent E.Go Cellular in a pooling association that’s allowed by EU regulators.

VW had already warned in third-quarter earnings name on Oct. 29 that it anticipated EU penalties for failing to attain its CO2-reduction goal.

The automaker expects to have a better time meeting its 2021 target, because of ramped-up manufacturing of latest full-electric fashions on the MEB structure, particularly the VW ID4 and Skoda Enyaq compact crossovers.

European policymakers have clamped down on exhaust emissions, forcing automakers to spur growth of low-emissions know-how or face a penalty of 95 euros per gram of extra CO2 they emit.

VW admitted in 2015 to dishonest emissions assessments on diesel engines, a scandal which has price it greater than 30 billion euros ($33 billion) in regulatory fines and car refits, largely within the U.S.