Volkswagen has agreed to pay around $10.2 billion (£6.89 billion) to settle United States claims following the emissions cheating scandal, sources have told AP.
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A Volkswagen official declined to comment on the report. The automaker will pay diesel vehicle owners at least $5,000 on top of fix or buyback.
Reuters, citing “a source briefed on the agreement”, pegged the settlement cost more specifically at .287 billion and said it could change before a Tuesday court deadline.
Elizabeth Cabraser, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said in a statement that the settlement will provide “substantial benefits to both consumers and the environment”. The device is really just illegal software that makes the emissions levels appear to be normal in the lab, then once the cars are back on the roads the nitrogen oxide emissions can be up to 40 times higher than legal standards.
If those estimates are true, Volkswagen would be paying the government $3 billion in fines and consumers $7 billion in compensation.
The scandal, which emerged with the revelations in the United States, went global after Volkswagen admitted it had installed the emissions-cheating software in 11 million VW, Porsche and Audi cars with diesel engines worldwide.
AAA chief executive Michael Bradley said Australian owners caught up in the scandal “deserve better from Volkswagen than they are now getting, and that could start with a goodwill payment”. The deal, yet to be made public but details of which have leaked to the Associated Press today, will apparently see Volkswagen offer to buy back affected cars or, alternatively, fix them, in addition to the compensation amount.
Volkswagen are going to spend around $10.2 billion to sort out the emissions cheat scandal, in the U.S. alone.
“The important thing customers need to know is that the affected vehicles are safe to drive now and will remain safe to drive after they are updated”.
VW has set aside 16.2 billion euros ($18.4bn) to cover the costs of the scandal.
VW Group is also facing a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission, which alleges that the company engaged in false advertising with their “clean diesel” campaign.
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An executive of Volkswagen Korea was arrested by prosecutors on June 24 for his alleged involvement in the firm’s irregularities in the emissions scandal. In the USA, the automaker is negotiating a $10 billion settlement for submission to a federal judge next week, according to people familiar with the talks.
