London (CNN Business) Volkswagen is once again counting the cost of cheating on diesel engine emissions tests.

The German carmaker said Tuesday that it had been hit with a new fine relating to failings at its Audi subsidiary, sending the total cost of the scandal to nearly $33 billion.

Volkswagen admitted in 2015 to cheating on clean air rules with software that made emissions look less toxic than they actually were.

Munich prosecutors on Tuesday imposed a fine of €800 million ($926 million) on Audi, taking the total cost to the Volkswagen Group globally to €28.2 billion ($32.7 billion). That includes fines and other penalties, payments to authorities and the cost of compensation and retrofitting vehicles, according to a company spokesperson.

That is equivalent to 12% of Volkswagen's annual sales last year and more than its profit before special items, which stood at €17 billion ($19.7 billion) in 2017.

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