Report: Volkswagen to Pay $10.3 Billion to Settle Diesel Scandal in the U.S.
CARS.COM — The Volkswagen Group’s diesel scandal reportedly will cost the automaker more than $10 billion in the U.S. to compensate owners, and to fund green-energy projects and offset its diesel pollution. Citing an unnamed source briefed on the matter, Reuters reports the automaker may end up paying nearly $10.3 billion to compensate owners and atone for environmental damage in the ongoing diesel-emissions cheating scandal.
Related: VW Diesel Crisis: Timeline of Events
The scandal involves nearly 600,000 Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche diesel vehicles from the 2009 through 2016 model years. The Volkswagen Group, which had more than $240 billion in revenue in 2015 at current exchange rates, owns all three brands.
Reuters claims the average compensation per owner will amount to about $5,000. Bloomberg News, citing multiple unnamed sources, reports that the sum could range from $1,000 to $7,000 per owner and that the exact payouts to individual owners could be complicated to calculate.
The owner compensation, primarily for lost value, likely would be separate from the potential buyback plan for cars that cannot be fixed that VW and regulators announced April 21. The agreement is expected to include an offer to fix the cars if regulators eventually approve a remedy, according to Reuters.
The reports come five days ahead of a deadline for affected parties to submit agreements to federal court, which a California judge pushed to June 28 from its original June 21 deadline for a proposed agreement among VW, federal and California regulators, and attorneys representing consumers on how the automaker will compensate owners and resolve the crisis. By July 26, the court plans to reach preliminary approval on a final deal.
Reuters also has reported that the June 28 proposal isn’t expected to address some 80,000 V-6 diesel vehicles involved in the scandal, satisfy investigations by various states and a criminal probe by the U.S. Justice Department, nor any civil penalties under the Clean Air Act, which the EPA has said could amount to as much as $18 billion. Bloomberg reports, however, that the settlement may clear up at least some of these issues.
A Volkswagen spokeswoman declined comment to Cars.com, citing a confidentiality order the court has placed on the automaker.
