Volkswagen is expected to pay at least $200 million to offset the emission violations for its 3.0-liter diesel in the U.S.
The other shoe is scheduled to drop on Volkswagen AG today as a federal judge in San Francisco is expected to rule on the proposed settlement to resolve the issues surrounding the German maker’s 3.0-liter diesel engine.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer is expected to issue a decision about the automaker’s plans to fix or buyback about 80,000 of the affected diesel-powered vehicles: 20,000 will be bought while the remaining 60,000 Audis and VW SUVs will be repaired.
The same judge already approved a deal costing VW about $10 billion to fix or buy nearly 475,000 vehicles powered by 2.0-liter diesel engines. The overall plan involving those engines will cost VW $14.7 billion in fees, fines and other future actions in addition to the repairs and buybacks.
That deal has VW paying owners between $5,100 and $10,000 per vehicle depending various factors, such as the age of the vehicle and what model it is.
Early indications are that VW will pay $200 million to offset the emissions violations, reported Reuters, but the no official word has been released on it. VW agreed to pay $2.7 billion to offset the violations for the aforementioned 2.0-liter engines.
The beleaguered German automaker was accused by the Environmental Protection Agency in September 2015 of selling diesels for years with software that activated required air pollution equipment only during emissions tests.
(EU sues four member states over VW diesel scam. For more, Click Here.)
So far, Volkswagen has spent more than $20 billion to settle various legal actions stemming from the emissions scandal. That includes the June settlement with the EPA, the Justice Department and other federal and state authorities — and it’s getting worse.
Volkswagen may be facing significantly new penalties for cheating on diesel emissions – at least if European Union regulators have their way.
The EU has launched legal proceedings against four member states – Britain, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain – demanding that they impose fines against VW for using illegal “defeat device” software to rig diesel emissions tests.
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The European Commission also claims those four countries “broke the law” by refusing to provide EU regulators “all the technical information” they have gathered on VW’s scam.
After the U.S. investigation discovered the scam, the EU reached out to its own member states, among other things, asking them to run tests concerning “potential nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions irregularities in cars by Volkswagen Group AG and other car manufacturers on their territories.”
But regulators say those four states Germany “broke the law by refusing to disclose, when requested by the Commission, all the technical information” they have so far gathered. There is an ongoing debate over whether European law authorizes the software VW developed because it helps protect a vehicle’s motor. Authorities claim they need the additional data to verify that claim.
(The U.S. is critical to maker’s turnaround. For more on VW’s revival plan, Click Here.)
If the Brussels-based EU is successful, it could lead to hefty new penalties against the German automaker which has already shelled out billions of dollars in fines and settlements linked to the diesel scandal.