Volkswagen has agreed to a nearly $15 billion settlement with car owners and the federal government after the German automaker admitted in Sept. 2015 to installing illegal software in 11 million cars worldwide that allowed certain diesel models to circumvent the Clean Air Act and surreptitiously emit 40 times the allowable amount of nitrogen oxide. “The figure would be the largest auto scandal settlement in U.S. history and a huge step in Volkswagen’s efforts to address the legal fallout from its admission that its vehicles were designed to fool emissions tests,” according to the Associated Press.
Here’s more on the specifics of the deal from Bloomberg:
Under the deal, VW will set aside $10.03 billion to cover costs including buying back vehicles at pre-scandal values and compensating drivers as much as $10,000 per car for their troubles, two people familiar with the negotiations said. Those figures could rise if VW misses certain deadlines. In addition, Volkswagen will pay $2.7 billion in fines that will go to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board, and $2 billion on clean-emissions technology, one of the people said. The carmaker is also expected to announce a settlement with states, including New York, for about $400 million, another person said.
The settlement would be the largest U.S. civil settlement ever with an automaker, but the company also faces a host of other legal troubles, including a criminal inquiry by the Department of Justice and a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit.
